MovieChat Forums > Year of the Dog (2007) Discussion > Molly gives the best character developme...

Molly gives the best character development i've seen in YEARS

posted 18 years ago by Cherith-Cutestory
9 replies | jump to latest

As the title states, the character development of Peggy is just awe-inspiring, much if not all to Molly's credit. Her descent from a seemingly happy content women that loves her dog more than anything to borderline insanity (and i say that in a good way) is absolutely incredible. You feel like you are on the journey with her.

On that note, the entire cast was an A+ for me. Regina King, Laura Dern, John C Reilly, Peter Sarsgaard, Everyone was so well developed and full of realness and life, even the Dogs! I truly enjoyed this film, but i can see how not everyone would, its definitely an acquired taste. I would ask those who didn't enjoy the film to at least acknowledge that aspect of it.

So all in all i give it two very enthusiastic thumbs up :-)

[–] martyptx 18 years ago

You've got to be kidding! Peggy was pathetic. She did not have any relationship with anyone that went anywhere. Even on the bus in the last scene, she could not relate to any of the other people who had similar interests. Molly Shannon was boring, boring, boring.

[–] JC_Aliss 18 years ago

I too was disappointed with Molly in this one. I went into it completely enthused about seeing her potential as a dramatic actress. I was suprisingly unimpressed with her. It seemed to me much of the time that she wasn't at all in tune with what was going on with Peggy (like she was searching, and NOT in the "Peggy's search for herself" way but rather "an actress has no clue who her character is" way), and she had very little chemistry with the other actors. Molly Shannon has hooked me into every single one of her performances in the past, yet this one just fell flat. Her intelligence as an actress comes through strongly in her interpretation of comedy, NOT drama (at least not demonstrated as such in THIS film.)

Laura Dern in this film...now THAT was a powerhouse supporting performance, if I've ever seen one. She clearly knew her character inside and out. Molly just seemed to take a very simplistic way out--sad long face, monotone vocalization of lines, a lot of deep staring, etc. No layering of her personality at all. No depth.

[–] adamsmo 18 years ago

Um, the relationships all failing were kind of the point, genius.

I don't know much about character development at all... But, honestly, I loved the character. So stereotypical animal lover, almost no social life girl... which was also a comedic view, but she was so over the top that it did end up also being dramatic, while also comedic. I can't believe the awesome balance between comedy and drama in this movie - it was flawless.

[–] jessie142 18 years ago

I agree. Very nuanced performance. Didn't know she had it in her!

The oddball guys who don't like her performance just feel intimidated by the character she portrays.

[–] herfantasyisrudy 18 years ago

^ Indeed. I highly doubt she'll even be considered, but I'd love to see her get an award nomination for this, be it Oscar, Golden Globe, anything. She definitely deserves higher commendation for this role than she will get.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] herfantasyisrudy 18 years ago

In response to XChris's comment up there, just for clarification, I am actually a 20 year old male (at least I will be on June 12th) - and I do like movies where things blow up, but I actually prefer more realistic stuff like this. :) I've been a vegetarian since I was 11 though, so obviously the unexpected direction this movie took certainly didn't make me uncomfortable.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] YarkoTheWarbler 18 years ago

I think the acting was excellent, from pretty well everyone. But the film still left me pretty empty, because a woman smart enough to realize she was throwing her life onto the waste heap basically destroyed her life anyway, and for very little end effect.

Want to make an impact on just about any special interest you might have? Then keep your nose clean while putting in your 7 hours/day at work, and be passionate about your special interest at all other times, seeking to create change. Spend your own time and money on your project, don't steal the company's. You don't win any converts to a good cause if all you do is break laws.

I can understand tree-huggers who break laws by tresspassing and hugging trees. But in this film, Peggy decided to go for petty break-and-enter, a pathetic attempted murder, and blatant mail fraud. She was smart enough to reflect on these things and should have realized there were better alternatives, but somehow, she didn't. For that, I blame White the writer. The actors did great jobs with what they were given -- kudos to White the director. But I could not comprehend Peggy's motivation to become so anti-society and un-Peggylike, other than the lazy cliché "she just went crazy".

Molly's delivery of the line in Al's truck, in response to "So, you ever been married?" was an absolute gem of acting and writing. If I remember anything about this film, it will be that. Someday, someone will list that for IMDB quotes. For the moment, I think you can see it on the movie trailer. (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4IFI0Zq9d0, for eaxample).

Excuse me... Where are we going? And Why are we in this handbasket?