At first glance, Marley & Me could have been cut from the Hollywood sappy-comedy factory: cute couple buys cute dog, dog unleashes unbearably cute mayhem, dog teaches important life lessons until dog gets old and ill, cue the violins.
Thankfully, the flick's not merely about that sweetly-sick scenario. It's based on John Grogan's bestselling autobiography, so that lends the story a certain authenticity most Hollywood executives/would-be writers can't bring to the table.
What's Marley & Me About?
There are two stories in this film. One follows John (Owen Wilson) and his wife Jennifer (Jennifer Aniston) as they try to cope with Marley, "the world's worst dog." Marley is a male Labrador retriever who chews everything in sight, cannot be trained, and has a phobia of thunderstorms. Numerous dog-related hijinks ensue.
The other story follows John as he tries to figure out his life, and his place in the world. Initially wanting to be a globe-hopping reporter like his dashing pal Sebastian (Eric Dane), John finds himself uncomfortably accepting the role of columnist even though it means doubling his salary. He also has to cope with the increased responsibility his life has thrust upon him, such as being a supportive husband and father.
Wilson does a good job playing a regular guy, trying to do the right thing while realizing that his life has been laid out for him when he was making other plans. Jennifer Aniston is . . . well . . . Jennifer Aniston: she established a successful on-screen persona when she landed the role of Rachel in Friends and she sees no reason to let it go.
Scott Frank and Don Roos are smart enough to let author Grogan's voice come through in the first two acts: however, the Third Act devolves into pure Hollywood cheese (complete with tearjerking violins and mournful French horn) when it becomes obvious that Marley's life is drawing to a close.
The Final Analysis
It seems like faint praise to say this film wasn't as bad as it could've been, but that's the best way to describe Marley & Me. When it focuses on John's struggle to discover who he is, it's a solid movie about finding and accepting your place in the world. The mayhem-inducing Lab is an all right deliverer of laughs (it was probably a lot funnier when rendered in Grogan's prose), but bring an insulin drip for those final scenes.
It's an all right date movie, and a DVD rental for a Girls' Night In, but not a movie that must be seen in theatres. Marley & Me gets a 5/10.
Dominic von Riedemann - Dominic is the Animated Film Feature Writer, and winner of 11 Suite 101 Editors' Choice Awards.
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