Reviews of: Year of the Dog, Temple Grandin

Year of the Dog is a touching film starring Molly Shannon as Peggy, an ordinary single woman who lives contentedly with her pet beagle, Pencil. Then one day her beloved pet suddenly dies and Peggy's life starts to change.

Peter Sarsgaard is great as Newt, a dog-loving vegan who becomes Peggy's love-interest. Sarsgaard spoke about his role in the video clip. Newt first offers Peggy a new dog and progressively he influences Peggy to make some major changes in her life.

Regina King is great as Peggy's co-worker and good friend Layla. Laura Dern is Peggy's sister-in-law. All of the characters in this film have their own larger-than-life quirks. I caught myself being reminded of people I've met or known.

Mike White who's a vegan, was both the writer and director for this film.
This film is entertaining, touching and thought-provoking. I even thought that it was inspiring to see how a woman who finds a new passion in her life, affects and inspires other people in her life.

In this post, I also want to discuss an amazing film titled Temple Grandin which is based on the inspiring biography of a woman who overcame the challenges of autism and went on to earn her Bachelor's degree, her Master's in Science and finally a Doctorate. Her unusual method of seeing the world enabled her to create more humane handling systems for cattle. She believes that animals should be treated as humanely as possible before they become meat. Claire Danes did a fantastic job of portraying Temple. Even Temple herself was quite impressed and said that she felt as if she saw herself in Claire's portrayal. Julia Ormond is great as a Temple's mother, a determined woman who despite the advice and opinion of professionals, was driven to help her autistic daughter find her way in the world.

Here's a link to a video that includes clips from the film, discussion from Claire Danes, the director Mick Jackson, Temple Grandin and others. You can also visit Temple Grandin's website.

These are two very different films, one is a fiction and the other is a biography of a real person, but they are related by the love, compassion and respect for animals.