How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog

Mar 5 2003 R 1h 47m
Comedy, Drama

The story of Peter McGowan, a chain-smoking, impotent, insomniac playwright who lives in Los Angeles. Once very successful, he is now in the tenth year of a decade-long string of production failures. He finds himself bonding with a new neighbor's lonely young daughter who has mild cerebral palsy; and during one of his middle-of-the-night strolls, he encounters his oddball doppelgänger.

Plot

Shy, chain-smoking, insomniac Peter McGowen is a Los Angeles playwright with a string of hits that preceded his current ten years of failed productions. His mother-in-law is sinking into senility. A stranger is meandering the neighborhood claiming to be him. Neighbors have a new dog that barks all night. His wife wants to have a child, and he does not. He's become impotent. He's working on a new play when a single mother moves in next door with her eight-year-old daughter. His wife immediately invites the girl into the McGowen household. Will this child stir Peter's paternal feelings? Will she also help him get his dialogue right? And what of his doppelganger and the neighbor's dog?

Written by

Michael Kalesniko

Directed by

Michael Kalesniko

Cast

Kenneth Branagh, Robin Wright, Suzi Hofrichter

Crew

View crew

Production Countries

Germany, United States of America

Languages

Español, Français, English

Awards

6 wins

Scores
# of Votes
3,730
Average Rating
6.8 out of 10
Metascore
40
Popularity
NA