In search of an audience

Some award-winning American independent films take a bit longer to come to market, while others are employing unconventional yet ultimately effective ways to connect with audiences. Kenneth Branagh gives a career-best performance (non Shakespeare division) as a dyspeptic British playwright grappling with writer's block and the terrifying prospect of fatherhood in writer-director Michael Kalesniko's charmingly irreverent How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog.

Since its debut in the Cannes 2000 market, Dog has collected a litter of fest audience awards, and while there's nothing particularly sinister or negative about the film's absence from the theatrical arena, beyond exasperating business snafus, these boardroom machinations are to date depriving moviegoers of a fresh and sassy human comedy.