"MARLEY & ME": A FAMILY MOVIE FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY
Written: Dec 29 '08 (Updated Dec 29 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Excellent script with a message, great acting from the entire cast incuding the dog
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: One of the best films to come out at Christmas. A great movie for the family.
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| mike.holmes's Full Review: Marley & Me |
When we went to this film this weekend, I really didn't know what to expect. I hadn't read the book by John Grogen that the film is based on nor had I seen many trailers. I went with my two adult children, my 11 year old niece and my 4 year old granddaughter. We all loved the film.
I had thought that the movie would be another light-hearted "Disney-like" film or a re-telling of the old classic "Ol' Yellar". I was wrong.
What this film manages to do is tell a story that the entire family can relate to.
THE PLOT
As the film opens, we meet John and Jennifer Grogan. They are both journalists who have been working in the Mid-West by they are moving to Southern Florida. Jennifer (Jennifer Aniston-"Friends", "The Good Girl) has a better reputation and gets the more prestigious job with the biggest newspaper in the city. John, Owen Wilson ("The Royal Tenenbaums", "Wedding Crashers") is hired by a reluctant editor, Arnie Klein (Alan Arkin-"Little Miss Sunshine", "The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter") with the smaller paper in the city.
Jennifer wants to have a child but John is not ready and with the advice of his best friend, Sebastian (Eric Dane-"Gray's Anatomy"), talks Jen into buying a dog instead. The couple settle on a Labrodor Retriever who the kennel owner really wants to get rid of for some obvous reasons (we learn as the film moves on.) They name the puppy, Marley (portrayed by 22 puppies) who instantly begins chewing on anything within his reach.
As the family grows, Marley continues to be "the worst dog in the world". John, with the encouragement of his editor, has become a very popular columist for the paper, largely as a result of his stories about Marley and the family. Jennifer is happy, at first, to stay home but is overwhelmed at times by the wild dog and three growing children.
In short, the movie concerns how a family deals with all the problems that concerns most growing families.
WHY I LOVED THIS FILM
As I wrote earlier, I didn't know what to expect from this movie. What we all found, however, was a film that kept our attention throughout the story. My granddaughter, who usually goes to the bathroom 3 or 4 times in a movie, went only once and was as emotionally moved as the rest of my family.
What set this film apart? The writing. Although I have not read the source material from John Grogen, I do know that it was well-loved. Instead of hiring first time screenwriters as so many studios seem to be doing lately, this film has two fine writers: Scott Frank-"Out of Sight", "Minority Report", "Get Shorty" and Don Roos-"The Opposite of Sex"). The script written here neither "talks down" to us nor presents unrealistic scenes for the sake of quick laughs. I really felt as though I was watching a real family.
Kudos also go to Director David Frankel ("Dear Dairy", "Band Of Brothers") who managed to make a dog a central figure in family but also brought out the importance of every family member.
Both Wilson and Aniston do some of their best acting in films to date in this movie. They are very believable as a couple and each is given challenging moments of self-doubt to deal with in the film. There is very little "slapstick" humor aside from a few "Marley" scenes but there is subtle humor and pathos shown by each actor.
The children in the film (at least two groups do to the age changes) all act as though they are not in a movie. They, too, give a realistic set of performances. Eric Dane is John's friend who John is envious of but I also think Eric (who has no family) is a little envious of John's life. Arkin is perfect as the editor who really brought the true writing strengths out of Grogan.
I really like not knowing much about a movie before I see it. Although "trailers" can cause us to be interested in a film, they often tell too much of the story. Even the few trailers I had seen did not ruin the movie in any way.
There is also excellent music in the film from Theodore Shapiro ("Blades of Glory", "The Devil Wears Prada") and beautiful photography by Florian Balhaus (Definitely, Maybe", "The Devil Wears Prada".
This truly was a film for the whole family.
FIVE STARS
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Feel-good Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Nothing
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Epinions.com ID:
mike.holmes
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Member: Mike Holmes
Location: Odessa, Texas
Reviews written: 1249
Trusted by: 359 members
About Me:
TO HONOR TED KENNEDY, CONGRESS SHOULD PASS A MEANINGFUL HEALTH CARE BILL
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