rated PG-13 for some suggestive content
This week's movie review is on a charming new film from Mike White, the man responsible for School of Rock and Nacho Libre.
This time, White sits in the director's chair in this tale of animal cruelty and pet/owner love. Year of the Dog stars Molly Shannon (of SNL fame) as Peggy, a 40 something secretary who seems happy at work and especially at home with her dog, Pencil. One night, Pencil wanders away and gets into some poison, which in turn causes him to die- devestating Peggy.
After this the film follows Peggy as she struggles with her love life, her love of animals, and her family. Peggy becomes a vegan, becomes an animal rights activist, and lovingly sponsers farm animals for her brother's family for Christmas. Along this personal journey, Peggy learns what it means to take something too far, and also what it means to be given a second chance.
While this film may not end the way we want it to, it is certainly far from a sad ending. Overall this was a great film , well told with a LOT of character development and it attacked a subject that most film makers shy away from.
Morally this film was pretty clean. The language was a minimal two B words, which were incidently used in the correct appropriate usage. The suggestive content that garnered the PG-13 rating was not heavy, but enough to make you squirm uncomfortably a couple of times. This was mostly due to dialogue from Peggy's friend (played by the lovely Regina King), and from the is he-or isn't he gay friend at the Vet.
Overall however, this was an excellent film that will definitely find a home on my DVD shelf alongside Mike White's other hits.
My rating: Very Good
Moral: Better than Average ****
Film Making: Excellent ****
Overall: Very Good ****
No comments:
Post a Comment