Year of the Dog

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Year of the Dog ★★ 2007 (PG-13)

Peggy (Shannon) is your basic single, middle-aged office drone whose one true love is her beagle, Pencil. When Pencil suddenly dies, Peggy goes off the deep end in her grief. Looking for a sense of purpose, Peggy takes up the cause of animal rights, with the encouragement of fellow activist Newt (Sarsgaard), and also adopts every stray she sees. Shannon plays her character absolutely straight: Peggy might be nuts, she might be unsympathetic sometimes, but she's completely sincere and those animals are lucky to have her. Screenwriter (and actor) White makes his directorial debut. 98m/C DVD . US Molly Shannon, Peter Sarsgaard, Laura Dern, Thomas (Tom) McCarthy, Regina King, John C. Reilly, Josh Pais; D: Mike White; W: Mike White; C: Tim Orr; M: Christophe Beck.