A Dog Year (2009)

Director:

George LaVoo

Writers (WGA):

George LaVoo (written by)
Jon Katz (book)

Release Date:

3 September 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

A guy suffering from a midlife crisis takes in a dog that's crazier than he is.

Plot Keywords:

Dog | Border Collie | Writers Block | Handyman | Marital Problem

Cast

Jeff Bridges	...	Jon Katz
Lauren Ambrose	...	Emma
Lois Smith	...	Lois Blair
Domhnall Gleeson	...	Anthony Armstrong
Welker White	...	Brenda King
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Manish Baliga	...	Airport Manager
Lindsay Brice	...	Nosy Neighbor
Amelia Campbell	...	Sandra Zeller
Loyd Catlett	...	Gary
Jan Leslie Harding	...	Nancy Longhetti
Michael Heintzman	...	Jeff Clement
William Hill	...	Ernie
Glenn Kessler	...	Airport Policeman #1
Josh Liveright	...	Billy
Elizabeth Marvel	...	Margo
Deirdre O'Connell	...	Donna Brady
Bernadette Quigley	...	Busybody Woman
Ptolemy Slocum	...	Larry - Suburban Man #2
Pamela Stewart	...	Patti
Myra Lucretia Taylor	...	Baggage Claim Girl
Leo Trombetta	...	Richard
Ben Van Bergen	...	Police Officer 1
Joe Wachowski	...	Airport Policeman #2
Teresa Yenque	...	Hispanic Woman

Runtime:

USA:80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Filming Locations:

Greenwich, New York, USA

Company:

Duopoly

love letter to dogs and their owners

Not your typical dog movie - here the dog actually acts like a real dog. No talking animals, no over-the-top staged smarts or heroics. It plays more like an episode of the Dog Whisperer - BEFORE they call in Cesar. Bridges plays a semi-creepy sad sack of a blocked writer who, through somewhat unclear circumstances, unwittingly and unwillingly adopts the border collie from hell. Having adopted a somewhat crazed border collie myself, I can say the dogs behavior and interactions with Bridges are spot on, and there is no need for the typical Hollywood (c.f. Beethoven) hyperbole - the dog is not quite the lovable scamp, and the Bridges' Katz is not a wholly sympathetic character. With a little unwelcome help from his friends, peace is eventually made between the writer and his dog. That's the good - the bad is this movie seems to be the anti-Marley - we only get a bare smattering of how the "adoption" came to pass, what the hell is going on between Katz and his family, and what happened to the other yellow lab? One gets the sense of script problems and/or a heavy hand in the editing room, which is too bad because while these details are not important, the missing pieces are distracting, and flaw this otherwise refreshingly realistic, yet still eminently watchable dog flick.