I had been trying to nail down what about this film bugs me. Then I again read the film's DVD jacket which promised a film that was "quirky....amusing....and...funny," a film about a woman, Peggy, who is described in exacting detail as:
A happy go lucky woman who has many friends who appreciate her and a job that utilizes her skills. She Has a nice home and she has her beloved dog Pencil. Presently, she chooses to be single. Then something happens that sends her into the dog eat dog world of searching for love.*
WOW, I'm thinking ....devoted pet owner, romance, comedy, laughs, the search for love! All the elements needed for a 'different' slice of life film. So what is bugging me? Perhaps the bait and switch marketing approach which found me viewing a vastly different movie.
The movie I viewed delivered a very dark story (albeit some funny moments) that chronicles the emotional deconstruction of Peggy in all its depressing fashion, from frame one to film's end, to wit:
Peggy's beloved dog Pencil tragically dies of toxic poisoning. Her new replacement dog Valentine KILLS a smaller defenseless dog. Valentine is then put to death. Peggy attempts to kill (knife) her neighbor. Peggy commits a felony against her sister by maliciously destroying thousands of dollars of her sister's property. We see Peggy's metamorphosis into an obsessed animal rights advocate. Peggy attempts to show her young niece how chickens are slaughtered. Peggy's sister and brother-in-law are understandably distraught. Peggy embezzles from her employer and is fired. Peggy takes 15 dogs into her home where they run wild using her home (pardon the phrase) as a LITTER BOX. The dogs are removed from her home on the basis that Peggy is now MALTREATING ANIMALS.
After needed psych treatment Peggy feigns resurrection by first returning to her home and job (yes her employer actually takes her back) and then in a flash turns her back on all. Peggy's animal rights obsession resurfaces with a vengeance. It compels her to drive off, on a distant animal rights mission, leaving home, job and family behind. For the first time in her recent life Peggy is also, can you believe it, PETLESS.
New title for this amusing, quirky, searching for love, funny and pet loving film: Petless, Friendless, Jobless, Familyless, Homeless, Loveless BUT Happily Obsessed!
* Also misleading. In the film we never see Peggy embarked on any search for love. Two men initiate brief dead end involvements in her life.
A happy go lucky woman who has many friends who appreciate her and a job that utilizes her skills. She Has a nice home and she has her beloved dog Pencil. Presently, she chooses to be single. Then something happens that sends her into the dog eat dog world of searching for love.*
WOW, I'm thinking ....devoted pet owner, romance, comedy, laughs, the search for love! All the elements needed for a 'different' slice of life film. So what is bugging me? Perhaps the bait and switch marketing approach which found me viewing a vastly different movie.
The movie I viewed delivered a very dark story (albeit some funny moments) that chronicles the emotional deconstruction of Peggy in all its depressing fashion, from frame one to film's end, to wit:
Peggy's beloved dog Pencil tragically dies of toxic poisoning. Her new replacement dog Valentine KILLS a smaller defenseless dog. Valentine is then put to death. Peggy attempts to kill (knife) her neighbor. Peggy commits a felony against her sister by maliciously destroying thousands of dollars of her sister's property. We see Peggy's metamorphosis into an obsessed animal rights advocate. Peggy attempts to show her young niece how chickens are slaughtered. Peggy's sister and brother-in-law are understandably distraught. Peggy embezzles from her employer and is fired. Peggy takes 15 dogs into her home where they run wild using her home (pardon the phrase) as a LITTER BOX. The dogs are removed from her home on the basis that Peggy is now MALTREATING ANIMALS.
After needed psych treatment Peggy feigns resurrection by first returning to her home and job (yes her employer actually takes her back) and then in a flash turns her back on all. Peggy's animal rights obsession resurfaces with a vengeance. It compels her to drive off, on a distant animal rights mission, leaving home, job and family behind. For the first time in her recent life Peggy is also, can you believe it, PETLESS.
New title for this amusing, quirky, searching for love, funny and pet loving film: Petless, Friendless, Jobless, Familyless, Homeless, Loveless BUT Happily Obsessed!
* Also misleading. In the film we never see Peggy embarked on any search for love. Two men initiate brief dead end involvements in her life.