Screenwriter and actor Mike White gives 'Saturday Night Live' alumni Molly Shannon an impressive starring showcase in this creditable filmmaking effort. Molly shines as Peggy, a secretary who gets along better with animals than she does with people. Her whole world is devastated when her beloved pet beagle Pencil is poisoned. Circumstances for her get more and more ridiculous as she begins to embrace veganism and animal rights activism, to the detriment of what few relationships she has with people.
While it is understandable that we can lose some rooting interest for Peggy as she goes over the deep end, she's still a somewhat sympathetic and relatable character, at least for viewers who've never really "fit in". If you're going into this one blind, just be aware that it's more of a seriocomedy, with some rather dark elements, than a "girl and her dogs" laugh fest. As has been pointed out, the characters in this story that are the most compassionate about helping animals are shown to have some definite issues. Still, since they obviously have big hearts, one does hope for the best and hope that they get the help that they need.
The acting is uniformly fine from a talented ensemble. Molly is well supported by Regina King, Laura Dern, Tom McCarthy, John C. Reilly, Josh Pais, and Peter Sarsgaard.
While not all that realistic, this is a reasonably intriguing tale about one individuals' desperate need to find their purpose in life.
Seven out of 10.
While it is understandable that we can lose some rooting interest for Peggy as she goes over the deep end, she's still a somewhat sympathetic and relatable character, at least for viewers who've never really "fit in". If you're going into this one blind, just be aware that it's more of a seriocomedy, with some rather dark elements, than a "girl and her dogs" laugh fest. As has been pointed out, the characters in this story that are the most compassionate about helping animals are shown to have some definite issues. Still, since they obviously have big hearts, one does hope for the best and hope that they get the help that they need.
The acting is uniformly fine from a talented ensemble. Molly is well supported by Regina King, Laura Dern, Tom McCarthy, John C. Reilly, Josh Pais, and Peter Sarsgaard.
While not all that realistic, this is a reasonably intriguing tale about one individuals' desperate need to find their purpose in life.
Seven out of 10.