How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog (2002)

As L.A's most, if not only, successful playwright, Peter McGowan has hit a creative and personal dry spell. After a string of flops, his new play is set to open, but his producer and cast insist the 10-year-old character in the story doesn't ring true. Challenged to develop a 'real' child for the play, he finds himself blocked. At home, his wife Melanie would like a child of her own, but Peter isn't ready for more distractions. Besides, his perpetually confused mother-in-law has moved in and dealing with her is yet another challenge. Peter also realizes he is being stalked - by a fan who thinks he's the real Peter. He reaches the brink of insanity when the neighbor's new dog starts barking in the night, exacerbating his insomnia. When a recently separated woman and her young daughter Amy move next door, Melanie recognizes an opportunity to assuage her husband's awkwardness with children. And Peter sees this as an opportunity to craft that 'real' child for his play.