Movie Review:
Marley & Me
Rated by 10 members
Rated PG for thematic material, some suggestive content and language.
Recommended for ages 10 and up, though little here will entertain kids.
Run Time: 115 minutes
Quick Take: Puppy love leads to a miserable, manipulative end. This "family" movie belongs in the kind of doggie bag that you hold your nose to fill.
Marley More a Drag Than a Tail-Wagger
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
Gather 'round kiddies and listen to the tender Christmas story about…euthanasia.And a happy new year.
Marley & Me may be a movie about the best, worst dog that ever lived, but for those unfamiliar with the book, it may deliver a little more than you expected. The loveable trailers with the voiceover, "This December 25, give your family the gift of Marley," skip the part where you'll be explaining the realities of pet ownership, and why aging Fido might not make it to next Christmas.
Ho, Ho, Ho.
The yuletide flick is the movie version of John Grogan's sweetly sentimental book about man, wife, and overactive doggie, chronicling canine and family from clearance-sale adoption by a couple through loyal companion to a family of five. The years go by with Marley repeatedly proving his obedience-school-dropout credentials (chewing furniture, gnawing walls, frightening dog sitters away), all while his family changes jobs and has kids. Grogan lovingly calls Marley the world's worst dog, but of course he's really not: underneath that demolition derby, Marley is just fluff and unconditional love, a lump of fur that with a single paw, will probably engineer a spike in the number of Golden Lab adoptions.
Millions of people lapped up Grogan's book, and it's not hard to see why. The story warmly mined adoration between man and best friend, and in print, Grogan's affection is unmistakable. But, on screen, Marley isn't so much about a dog and his family as about a family that happens to have a dog: two people who grow up, get married, adopt a dog, pursue careers, have babies… Trouble is, they're not all that interesting. It's hard to get emotionally invested in a story that seems to be a random chronicling of 14 years in the life of a couple, with Owen Wilson pawing the role dazedly and Jennifer Aniston looking as comfortable around kids as she might be around store-brand shampoo. I have two cats and a couple of kids, and I can't even get people to watch my home videos (to be fair, I also don't look like Jennifer Aniston in a bikini). The movie left a hole where Grogan's sentiment used to be. There are flashes of heart, but mostly, time passes so absently, there's no growing sense of the Grogan family, just of a family that's getting bigger. Take out 30 minutes of dog, and what's left is the generic movie, Jen & Me.
On the upside, when he's on screen, Marley owns this movie, which makes it all the more devastating to careen to the end with the kind of foreboding that accompanies, say, Titanic. You don't have to read the book to know it's not going to end well. How not well? Let's say the movie should come with a disclaimer: may cause drowning. But, the anguish isn't of the "I can't wait to see it again" variety as much as the, "why did I ever subject myself to this" type. Maybe it's my own bias, and the fact that I've been down that road, one that I couldn't imagine repeating in real life through fate, let alone vicariously and on purpose. There is a lesson in the characters' devotion to their pet, and Owen Wilson's final scenes with Marley are, admittedly, poignant.
It's just that, for families lured by the cute, frolicking doggie yuk-fest trailers, the unexpected lesson may be like unwrapping a lump of coal on Christmas Day.
Kids Will Like:
Puppies, puppies, puppies. The early scene with the puppy adoption is like a smorgasbord of doggie love. And, Labs being about the cutest dogs invented, it's a giant "awwww" moment if ever there was one. Marley's a goofy yet utterly loyal companion, and slapstick is matched with an equal amount of screen time showing his devoted "Lassie side.
Parents Will Like:
Grownups may enjoy the divergence from the kooky animal movie to what might be called "substance." Moms and dads will recognize the way a pet becomes part of the family, and the accurate portrayal of said pet's altered station that can come with a new baby. It brought to mind an old friend whose exhaustion over her infant temporarily changed the name of the family kittens from "The girls" to "Those (bleep)-ing cats." There's nothing like seeing a kid curled up with a pet, and the sight of Marley with the Grogan tots just may have you reconsidering that "Mom, can I puh-leeeeese have a dog?" entreaty.
