calhoun07

I tried to do a search for both "Year of the Dog" and "Mike White" and didn't find anything so forgive me if this topic already has a thread.

I got to see this last night. I loved much of Mike White's work. Chuck and Buck was good, if a little to disturbing for me towards the end, Orange County was great all over, Good Girl was very enjoyable, and I really liked School of Rock much more than I ever expected to.

So I had high hopes for Year of the Dog. I probably look forward to a new Mike White movie much in the same way I look forward to a new Wes Anderson or Todd Solondz movie (even though Mike never directed a movie before this one).

However, I really feel Mike just needs to go back to turning in the remarkable screen plays and leave the directing to somebody else.

First off, I was really turned off by the apparently oxymoronic (for lack of being able to think of a better term) behavior of the characters, especially the two main dog lovers in this movie.

∆ The character played by Molly Shannon loves dogs, but is completely irresponsible and disregards the safety of her own dog when he goes outside....going back to bed after you let him out? Let the dog piss and bring him back inside. What the hell is wrong with her? And the dog doesn't come when you call him? Get off your ass and get him before he gets lost.
btw...I believe part of this reason is because Mike White based this movie on an experience he had with a cat he cared for...which makes sense that Mike would have just let the cat stay outside since a lot of people do that with cats...but a dog lover would never do that. Some dog owners, yes, but not somebody with the love for dogs like we see in Molly Shannon's character.

∆The vegan boyfriend/whatever is also a moron. First he tells Molly Shannon's character that Valentine, the German Shepard, is aggressive and not good with other animals. Later in the movie Valentine kills another dog while under the care of vegan man. Moron should have followed his own advice. It's this kind of inconsistent crap with this character and others that just really screams out at the viewer in a bad way.

∆ It's not even Christmas. OK, I realize the movie takes place at Christmas but there are still leaves on the trees. Even in southern states (and I've been in California during the winter) they do have fall and a winter period where the plants aren't looking like they do in the spring and summer. This movie looks like it was filmed in the summer. A nit pick, but something that takes you out of the movie completely.

∆ Speaking of Christmas...why are they giving presents to each other in Molly Shannon's character's family EVERY DAY???

∆There are lots of things left unexplained. Such as the reason the vegan boyfriend/whatever can't be in a relationship is never explained. Where Molly Shannon's character is going at the end of the movie/why/with whom? The lackadaisical attitude her boss has towards her theft and forgeries...they just let her come back to work WHY?????? Her neighbor doesn't press charges WHY????

∆ There are many scenes with build ups and no pay offs. There is no pay off for what happens to the fur coats. There is no pay off at all with the path Molly Shannon's character is on during the movie and the consequences of those actions.

There are more that I could probably think of later, but this is enough for now.

This is a poorly made movie, and I am astonished to see so many people lavishing praise on this heap of dog dung. If it wasn't Mike White, the critic's golden child, I wonder if the response would be the same? I would dare say that Rush Hour 3 probably holds together as a movie better than this turd.

DJLinus

I got this from the library yesterday and thought it was a pleasant enough diversion. 99% of the time Molly Shannon really gets one my nerves, but she was pretty good in this.

That said, I agree with you.

Assault, breaking and entering, stealing from her family and boss, destroying personal property, being a nuisance to her neighbor, indoctrinating/traumatizing her neice, "saving" dogs by making them live in cramped and unsanitary conditions, being judgmental of non-vegans/animal rights people...was I supposed to feel sympathy for Molly Shannon's character?

The boss reminded me of a less passive-aggressive Toby from "The Office."

The other movie I got from the library was Half Nelson, which was much better (a downer, though).

NitroJMS

I thought it was pretty obvious that he was gay and that Molly Shannon leaves at the end with the PETA-like group to work for animal rights.