Year of the Dog

Rare is the movie where the death of a two-legged dog is hilarious. Such is "Year of the Dog," in part. Molly Shannon plays a woman whose life revolves around her dog, Pencil. But when Pencil dies, her life is upended. At first, the film is about her evolving relationships with her neighbor (John C. Reilly) and a man from the vet's office (Peter Sarsgaard). When it focuses on the relationships, it's consistently LOL funny. It shows that low-budget comedies can actually be funny and entertaining, given the right script and actors. Shannon and Reilly are talented comedians, and even the usually worthless Sarsgaard turns in a decent performance. But then for the last hour or so the movie focuses on Shannon's increasingly militant animal rights activism, starting with her becoming a vegan. The movie then becomes a lot less interesting.