Do you know the name Mike White?

For fans of the TV show "Freaks and Geeks" and feature films "The School of Rock" and "Nacho Libre," White's name -- and, by extension, his hip-but-humanist sensibility -- is usually cause for rejoicing. (See Film Notes on Page 42.) All the more promising, then, that White makes his directorial debut with "Year of the Dog," starring Molly Shannon, John C. Reilly and Peter Sarsgaard.

White delivers another weirdly dark-but-funny story, this time about a lonely secretary and devoted dog owner named Peggy (Shannon), who, after the death of her beloved beagle, spins into a vortex of grief, overcompensation and, finally, a terrifying breakdown. Reilly and Sarsgaard play romantic interests with issues of their own; Laura Dern delivers a spot-on performance as Peggy's sister-in-law, whose maternal obsessions neurotically mirror Peggy's.

"Year of the Dog" is awkwardly staged and uneven in tone, but as White chronicles Peggy's psychic spiral, he asks tough questions about why society sanctions some forms of compassion and marginalizes others; finally, "Year of the Dog" becomes a cathartic portrait of a woman unapologetically owning her desires. And there's an undeniable sweetness to the movie's celebration of surrendering to one's best self.

-- Ann Hornaday (April 20, 2007)

Contains sexually suggestive references.