How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog

Play trailer

How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog

R

2002

1h 47m

Comedy

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

59%

Tomatometer

34 Reviews

73%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

Peter (Kenneth Branagh) is a successful playwright who has hit a dry spell. His wife Melanie (Robin Wright Penn) wants a baby, but Peter isn't ready. His mother-in-law (Lynn Redgrave) has moved in. He's being stalked by a fan who thinks that he is Peter. After his new neighbor's dog starts barking in the middle of the night, Peter starts to spend time with their daughter Amy (Suzi Hofrichter). He begins to form a friendship with her and realizes how to solve his writer's block...

Watch on Prime Video

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

With a killer plot that fails to thicken despite a standout performance by Kenneth Branagh:How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog plays out as insipid drollery.

Read Critics Reviews

Kirk Honeycutt

The Hollywood Reporter

Feb 27, 2004

Has an unusually high ratio of laughs per minute.

Go to Full Review

Mick LaSalle

San Francisco Chronicle

Mar 1, 2002

2/4

Falsehoods pile up, undermining the movie's reality and stifling its creator's comic voice.

Go to Full Review

Gene Seymour

Newsday

Feb 22, 2002

2.5/4

Kenneth Branagh's energetic sweet-and-sour performance as a curmudgeonly British playwright grounds this overstuffed, erratic dramedy in which he and his improbably forbearing wife contend with craziness and child-rearing in Los Angeles.

Go to Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Mar 4, 2017

C+

Fails to overcome its vapid drama.

Go to Full Review

Jason Gorber

Film Scouts

Jun 21, 2007

B-

This is an agreeable but hardly challenging film, a movie perfect for a night by the fire when you want to curl up and relax.

Go to Full Review

Betsy Bozdech

DVDJournal.com

Nov 9, 2006

2.5/4

Aside from its mouthful of a title and Robin Wright Penn's monumentally bad haircut, How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog actually has a lot going for it.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Steve D

@RT35616104 Sep 23, 2023

Sometimes offensive. Sometimes too dark, often scattered, never good.

See more

Sep 12, 2016

This is that type of arthaus film most actors, actresses, & directors want to do at least once in their career. Which actually includes nearly half of Branagh's work.

See more

Jan 13, 2016

it starts very slow, eventually it is good.

See more

Mar 17, 2013

Lines and Ken's performance are entertaining.

See more

Oct 14, 2012

I've had this sitting in my dvd collection for a long time but did not know what the hell it was (I got it free from a newspaper) Anyway, I put it on to give it a bash and I'm glad I did because it was ace. Kenneth Branagh is very funny in this , the wee girl in it was also ace as is the rest of the cast. Very funny and touching, bittersweet and feelgood.

See more

Sep 24, 2012

Contains several funny scenes

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Michael Kalesniko

Director

Kenneth Branagh

Peter McGowan

Robin Wright

Melanie McGowan

Jared Harris

False Peter

Johnathon Schaech

Adam

Peter Riegert

Larry

Committed

43%

35%

Committed

Watchlist

Celebrity

43%

42%

Celebrity

Watchlist

Hurlyburly

57%

65%

Hurlyburly

Watchlist

Outside Providence

53%

66%

Outside Providence

Watchlist

Birthday Girl

59%

39%

Birthday Girl

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

Peter (Kenneth Branagh) is a successful playwright who has hit a dry spell. His wife Melanie (Robin Wright Penn) wants a baby, but Peter isn't ready. His mother-in-law (Lynn Redgrave) has moved in. He's being stalked by a fan who thinks that he is Peter. After his new neighbor's dog starts barking in the middle of the night, Peter starts to spend time with their daughter Amy (Suzi Hofrichter). He begins to form a friendship with her and realizes how to solve his writer's block...

Director: Michael Kalesniko
Producer: Michael Nozik, Brad Weston, Nancy M. Ruff
Screenwriter: Michael Kalesniko
Distributor: Artistic License
Production Co: Lonsdale Pictures, Millennium Films, South Fork Pictures
Rating: R (Language)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 22, 2002, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 30, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $48.6K
Runtime: 1h 47m
Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo, Dolby A, Dolby SR, Dolby Digital, Surround

Join The Newsletter

Join The Newsletter

Cookie Settings