"How To Kill Your Neighbor's Dog" (2000)
Rated: R
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Robin Wright Penn, Lynn Redgrave, David Krumholtz
SUMMARY: A formerly successful Playwright who was known as the "original angry young man" must deal with his wife wanting a child, his mother-in-law not remembering who he is, his current writer's block, his neighbor's new dog that won't stop barking, a stalker who claims to be him, and a little girl with cerebral palsy who just moved in across the street.
A friend recommended this movie to me nearly two years ago, and I'm embarrassed to say that I just now got to it. I was floored. Branagh, of course, is gold, but everything around him shines just as brightly.
Now, granted, my love for this movie could have something to do with me being a writer who tends to yell at stupid drivers. Or it could be that I too have a young friend with mild cerebral palsy. Or just maybe it's Robin Wright Penn's extremely cute short brown hair (a personal favorite style). Oh, I give up. This movie is about ME!...in thirty years.
Every character is lovable, even in their inadequacies. Well, except one, but I won't say who. The story is roll-on-the-floor funny, painfully sad, and, at times, far to accurate in its portrayals of artists (especially writers). The relationship that forms between Branagh and the little girl is fantastic enough, but there's something even more fantastic about the relationships in this movie.
This is the first movie, I think, that I have ever seen that shows a loving, committed, realistic, and believable marriage. Whether it’s a Nora Ephron romantic comedy or a Mike Nichols drama, it seems that modern cinema thinks that all relationships are doomed to fail. Not this time. This movie made me want to get married (no, this is not becoming a personal ad, and, ladies, please refrain from sending me links to your MySpace page). The relationship was loving. It was deep. But most of all, and forgive me if this isn't your favorite word, it was sexy. Working marriages in movies are NEVER sexy. They're either unrealistic or lovably comedic (i.e. Kathy Bates and Terry Bradshaw in "Failure to Launch"). This one was sexy. Bravo, Hollywood.
Of course, using the word "sexy" has you asking questions now. No, there is no sex. No, there is no nudity. There is plenty of sexual dialogue, but what would you expect from a movie that deals with a couple trying to conceive and a man dealing with impotence? The language is definitely R-rated with several F-bombs, mostly from the resident Brit, but it's not nearly as bad as, say, "Pulp Fiction" or, maybe, "Lethal Weapon." As far as violence goes, there's one pseudo-fistfight and a gunshot off-screen. Gore, a couple of bloody noses is about as bad as it gets.
All in all, I can confidently say, this is going in my top 5.
OVERALL: 8.5
LANGUAGE: 4
VIOLENCE: 1.5
GORE: 1.5
SEXUALITY: 3 (for dialogue)
NUDITY: 1
