How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog (2002)
The story of Peter McGowan, a chain-smoking, impotent, insomniac playwright who lives in Los Angeles. Once very successful, he is now in the tenth year of a decade-long string of production failures. He finds himself bonding with a new neighbor's lonely young daughter who has mild cerebral palsy; and during one of his middle-of-the-night strolls, he encounters his oddball doppelgänger.
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Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.
This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.
At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.
I'm a huge fan of this movie, which I just recently discovered (you know, "fan" is short for "fanatic"). This film is intelligent and heartfelt at the same time, on a level that almost no other film I have ever seen manages to reach.It's disconcerting to see how many critics (the ones whose reviews are on R----- T-------) just missed it completely, how this movie went over their heads.The interactions between virtually all the characters are masterfully rendered, but the relationship between Peter and the neighbor's handicapped girl is outstanding and beautiful. The scene when he sits with her at her toy tea table, ostensibly to do research for his play, and lets her teach him how to play, is unbelievably touching and funny.I had to watch it again, after reading lukewarm reviews by certain critics I usually respect, to convince myself that they had a blind spot and in the last analysis, I am the critic I need to rely on.But if my words encourage anyone else to see this, anyone who might also discover a real gem in this movie, then by all means, let them have their effect! Sincerely, Bob Haskell
I did not expect a lot from this movie, since it was in the budget section. Kenneth Branagh, a truly remarkable actor, was perfectly cast as the writer, playwright and not so wanting to be a father to be.Branagh had me laughing and crying.... Amy was a great character for a child, and a great little actress. As annoying as she could have been, she wasn't, but rather endearing in the life of her two neighbors. Krumholtz was annoying, the only one.This is a movie that I would recommend to fans of Branagh as a gem! He was great (and buffed) in Frankenstein, and more curmudgeonly in this one - as "Pete" told him. Nevertheless, he came across as the real deal and made me wonder why he doesn't have kids yet!! Why not Kenneth? You'd be a great father. Is he a mirror of his character?
I liked this movie - for a change we have here an intelligent comedy, smart dialogs, a conventional story that succeeds to almost never fall in the romantic routine. The story is set in Los Angeles. A British-American play-writer goes through a mid-life, mid-career, mid-relationship crisis. He is happily married, but the couple is childless, mostly probably because he is a champion of egocentrism and does not seem to like children very much. All this changes when a neighbor with an eight-year old daughter moves in. You have indeed seen the story in many other movies, but the masterful acting of Branagh with good support from the rest of the team, the sarcastic description of the content-empty life in the artistic circles in Los Angeles, and the witty relationship between the European roots of the character and his Americanized life make the film both interesting to watch, as well as true in message. 8 out of 10 on my personal scale.
We caught this film on cable last week and were shocked. No, not by the title - but how did we not hear about this movie? I'll say upfront, I'm not a Branagh fan, but I do love Robin Wright Penn. But Branagh blew me away with this performance - he's finally been given a great script by someone other than Shakespeare and run with it. The writing is smart and funny, the supporting cast is just terrific, especially the girl playing Amy. When I checked here, I saw the writer/director is the same guy who wrote Private Parts, one of my favorite films.If I try and put my finger on what touched me the most in this movie, I guess it's that the people were all so "real" and so I ended up caring very much what happened to them all. I'd love a sequel to see what happens to them after this episode in their lives!Who should see this film: Everyone who likes smart, funny writing and acting told in an adult way; and anyone who likes something other than the typical Hollywood blockbuster.