GreenCine Says: With How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog one not only has to get past the rather loathsome title but a fairly uneven first act as well. But stick with it, as some wonderful, sharply written scenes are your reward, as is the sight of one of Kenneth Branagh's best performances of the last few years and a fine supporting cast lead by the always underappreciated Robin Wright Penn. Penn plays his patient wife, desperate to become pregnant, but unfortunately married to the curmudgeonly British expat Branagh - who is far more concerned with his play-in-progress than the idea of children running around mucking things up. The black comedy comes uneasily at times, but the human observations and a realistic portrayal of the pains of playwriting (in Los Angeles, especially) flow more freely. His evolving friendship with the neighbor's young daughter could have been cloying (and only is once, in their tearful final scene) but instead rings true; amusing, too, are Branagh's attempts to notate her "dialogue" to try to improve one of his own child characters. That fine cast also includes Jared Harris, lovely as the well-meaning stalker (except for one horrible moment), Peter Riegert, a virtually unrecognizable Lynn Redgrave as Penn's ailing mother (who can't seem to recognize her son-in-law), and Daniel Stern in a hilarious cameo as a bitter screenwriter.

The film will surprise you - particularly, again, after an occasionally clunky first act in which you will be hard-pressed not to loathe his character. But this is a play worth staying with until the final curtain. -- Craig Phillips