Mike White's Year of the Dog

Mike White has written half-a-dozen successful films but hadn’t directed his own screenplay until Year of the Dog, his poignant new comedy about a woman who loses her beloved pet. White’s movies range from the broad comedies he’s made with Jack Black to more offbeat, seemingly personal films like The Good Girl and Chuck&Buck. It might sound surprising that a movie like Year of the Dog, starring Molly Shannon (and opening nationwide April 13), would go into the latter category (or premiere at Sundance), but it has a depth of character that goes beyond a simple joke flick.

“The only movie that I’ve written that I don’t think of as personal is Nacho Libre,” White says. “But even School of Rock—it definitely has an eye toward a broader audience—but at the same time, the fantasy of it is totally my own. [But] the tone of the other movies you’re talking about more reflects my inner tone.”

White’s two “tones” are both very funny, making his more personal films approachable and his sillier films warm at the center. Even though he clearly finds Molly Shannon’s character quirky and flawed, he accepts her idiosyncrasies rather than tugging her back toward the mainstream.

“I don’t like things that are completely humorless,” says White, “because I don’t think that’s true of life. I think playfulness and wisdom go hand in hand sometimes.”