How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog (2000)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Michael Kalesniko

Writer (WGA):

Michael Kalesniko (written by)

Release Date:

5 March 2003 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

One man's pet is another man's peeve.

Plot:

Shy, chain-smoking, insomniac Peter McGowan is an L.A. playwright with a string of hits that preceded his current ten years of failed productions...

Plot Keywords:

Dog | Neighbor | Play | Playwright | Comedy Of Manners

Awards:

6 wins

Cast

Kenneth Branagh	...	Peter McGowen
Robin Wright Penn	...	Melanie McGowen
Suzi Hofrichter	...	Amy Walsh
Lynn Redgrave	...	Edna
Jared Harris	...	False Peter
Peter Riegert	...	Larry
David Krumholtz	...	Brian Sellars
Johnathon Schaech	...	Adam
Kaitlin Hopkins	...	Victoria
Suzy Joachim	...	Allana
Brett Rickaby	...	Janitor
Lucinda Jenney	...	Trina Walsh
Derek Kellock	...	Amy's Father
Stacy Hogue	...	Babysitter
Peri Gilpin	...	Debra Salhany

Also Known As:

Mad Dogs and Englishmen (Australia) (video title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

France:107 min

Country:

Germany | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | France:U | USA:R | UK:15 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Cinerenta Medienbeteiligungs KG

Quotes:

Larry: You're lucky. You got Melanie. There are men who'd die for her.
Peter McGowan: Yeah, die for her, or have her kill you. Either way, you're dead.
Larry: Still having trouble satiating, are we?
Peter McGowan: I think the doorbell's heard my wife shout "I'm coming" more than I have these days.

Movie Connections:

Features Planet of the Apes (1968)

Soundtrack:

Planet of the Apes (Score)

Intelligent Comedy, Worth Watching

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.