White's directorial debut stars Molly Shannon as Peggy, a chronic dog lover who hasn't been able to find a man, but who starts to truly find herself when her beloved beagle dies mysteriously. Despite the obvious anticipation among White's many fans, the movie just isn't as strong as The Good Girl or as funny as some of his other movies.

As expected, the movie is chock-full of White's quirky characters--there's Laura Dern as Peggy's sister-in-law who is overly protective of her kids and Josh Pais as her clueless boss--and they're the kind of people we've all experienced allowing the laughs to come from a genuine place. After introducing so many interesting satellite characters in Peggy's life, the movie gets into this tedious and repetitive pattern as Molly Shannon interacts with each of them, essentially repeating the same joke every time they're on screen. Peggy certainly goes through a number of major changes over the course of the movie, but it never really feels like there's a strong plot holding things together, as it meanders all over the place.

At first, the movie seems to be about Peggy's quest for love, but after two failed attempts, first with her neighbor (John C. Reilly) and then with an effeminate fellow dog enthusiast (Peter Sarsgaard), the movie becomes more about Peggy's manic quest to protect animals, particularly dogs. She becomes a diehard vegan and forges checks from the pharmaceutical company where she works to various animal charities. There are a few funny moments, sure, but it just isn't the kind of non-stop hilarity that one might expect, and the whole thing just feels like it's set-up for a climactic site gag involving Shannon driving her tiny car filled with 15 dogs that she saved from the pound.

Mike White would tell the audience later that he wrote this part for Shannon, and it's a shame that she's also the movie's weakest link, because she's just not a strong enough dramatic actress to carry those parts of the movie. Certainly your enjoyment of this movie will depend on your own tolerance for Shannon's on-screen persona, but this is by no means the breakout that The Good Girl was for Jennifer Aniston. Shannon's performance makes the whole movie seem forced and flat.

The movie isn't a complete loss and it has a couple standouts who effortlessly steal the movie from Shannon, the most obvious one being Regina King as Peggy's talkative co-worker--a very funny performance that gets a good laugh everytime she's on-screen--as well as the aforementioned indie mainstay Josh Pais as her befuddled boss. (Pais also had a memorable role in Teeth, which is also playing at the fest.)

Year of the Dog is being released by Paramount Vantage in April, but I'll be surprised if it's able to make very much money, which is a shame because White is a talented and inventive writer.

Next up was Rod Lurie's Resurrecting the Champ, starring Josh Hartnett as Erik Kernen Jr, a Detroit sports writer trying to find the story that will get him taken more seriously as a journalist. When he discovers a homeless man who claims to be Battlin' Bob Sattlefield, a legendary heavyweight contender,who many believed to be dead for 20 years, Kernen sees his chance at the big-time. The Champ is played by an almost unrecognizable Samuel L. Jackson, looking haggard with ratty dreads and his distinctive voice reduced to a high-pitched wheeze.

Before the movie began, there was sheer pandemonium as Hartnett and actress Teri Hatcher entered the auditorium and the crowd went nuts trying to get their pictures for a good 10 minutes until the ushers stepped in to get people to their seats. (I was sitting about three feet away from Hatcher and directly behind Camryn Mannheim.)

I may have been too exhausted by the time I watched the movie to really appreciate it or to write a semi-coherent review, but the movie was good, very good, even on the verge of being great. But it's to be expected, considering that it's such a strong story with really sharp writing and a solid cast across the board. The first act of the movie isn't too groundbreaking, mainly dealing with the journalist-subject relationship between Kernan and The Champ, but after a surprising twist midway through the movie, where things start getting interesting as it begins to focus more on Kernan's arc.

One might think that this movie would be all about Samuel L. Jackson's transformation into this homeless boxer, but it's more about Josh Hartnett's once again proving his acting chops with this breakthrough role. Although he looks a bit young to have a 6-year-old son with his estranged wife--a fellow journalist at the paper played by Lurie regular Kathryn Morris--there is far more depth to Kernan in that he needs to try to live up to the reputation of his deceased sports journalist dad while getting his own son to look at to him. Surprisingly, it's the scenes between Hartnett and young Dakota Goyo that makes this film so wonderful, although the rapport between Kernan with The Champ are also quite enjoyable.

Terri Hatcher has a small role as a Showtime producer who wants Kernan to be an on-air interviewer at boxing matches, something that would further take away from his journalistic reputation. It was amusing to watch most of her intended comic relief scenes bombing with the usually receptive Eccles audience, although she does have a great monologue that makes up for the movie's most obvious stereotype.

Hartnett is excellent in this movie, and while I'm hesitant to bandy Oscar consideration around so lightly and so early, this is a great shot for the actor, as well as for Jackson and another supporting for Alan Alda as Hartnett's unsupportive boss.

This is another strong film from Lurie, as well as being an endearing, crowd-pleasing drama that shouldn't have trouble finding an audience if marketed right. As is often the case, especially when you have four writers on a film, this probably could have lost about 15 minutes and been even stronger.

Samuel L. Jackson wasn't able to make it to the premiere but he Emailed Lurie a statement to read to the audience, and the rest of the cast each got their turn at the mic, including Hartnett, who looked very different than he did in the film with wavy dark hair and a small moustache, and Alan Alda, who stole the show with his speech about truth in journalism.