A Dog Year
A Dog Year
G | 03 September 2009 (USA)
A Dog Year Trailers

Jon Katz is close to burnout. He's a writer with writer's block; his wife has left for her sister's because he's emotionally distant; he rarely answers his phone. A kennel sends him a border collie that's undisciplined because of abuse. Despite a series of mishaps, Jon decides to keep trying with the dog, and he rents a dilapidated farm house to give the dog room to run. A local handyman refers Jon to a woman who might be able to help him train the dog. Reluctantly, Jon gives her a try. Is the dog the problem, or the owner?

Reviews
Nessieldwi

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

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Dynamixor

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

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Melanie Bouvet

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

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Janae Milner

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

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krocheav

Having no prior knowledge that this movie was based on a year of the writer's own life - I thought it was going to turn out to be some wretched gangster movie with a dog thrown in. Thankfully it wasn't. But, it wasn't much of anything else either. At odd times it looked like it was going to lead somewhere...then, would take a dive. There were one or two nice dog/owner moments - the promise of a training session to add another dimension but, that goes nowhere either. Then it fades out - 'The End' what? All looks like someone trying to prove they could make a tele-movie but forgot about the importance of a script with a complete story. Pity, it's the tail wagging the dog I'm afraid. Some reviewers hinted that only country folk would understand this tale, well maybe only those who have been in the country alone, for too long, and no longer understand the purpose of a story to go with their visuals. Only for the very easily pleased. Still, suppose it could have been worse, although not sure how much.

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Claire Terry

Nothing happens in this film. Literally. Man adopts a dog. He's estranged from his wife (we don't find out why). He's angry (we don't find out why). He rents a house in the country (we don't find out why). He finds a dog trainer who charges $200 a session to a) teach the dog NOT to herd sheep and then b) sit. He drives back home with the dog's head hanging out the window. The End.

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joeybloggs-93613

At last, a dog movie that shepherds who had to move to get work in the city when they were young can understand and get! From the mad, untameable but intelligent dog that we all had to train when we were younger, we were captivated to see how the intelligent but time-worn and world-weary written-block author who always had dogs would cope with a new and crazy challenge. The voices in the background, the agent, the wife and the confused university daughter home for the weekend to 'check things out' only got in the way of the main character trying to figure out his newest dog, which led him him to a country-dog guru who figured him out, and you are left wondering, who cured who, the main character, or the dog! City folks will not get this movie, but country folks will. Well done!

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lexivanz

Although the idea of this movie is okay, the introduction about Devon, the 'dog from hell' is so wrong. In this movie, Devon is introduced as a fearful dog who has been traumatized from the early abusive owner. However, the behavior of the scared dog doesn't really portray the trauma. Instead of being scared of his environment, Devon seems to enjoy his position as a king. Jumping on the bed, cupboards, cars and buses; stealing foods, running relentlessly and chasing people are not the character of a dog who lived in years of abuse. On the contrary, those are signs that the dog has been excessively spoiled, so he thinks he's the king - thats why he has major problems in obedience.If you understand dogs, you'll see that this movie is just so wrong. Besides the wrong development of the dog's character, the people's characters also make me clueless. There is no single clear display of a strong character here, even the dog owner himself. Some other characters seem to appear from the middle of nowhere and that makes the movie even more ridiculous.This movie is only for those who love watching dogs without understanding them.

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