A Bittersweet Tail
Written: Jan 03 '09 (Updated Jan 03 '09)
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros:
Adorable doggie scenes, endearing and relatable story.
Cons: Some of the movie may not be suitable for very young children.
The Bottom Line: It's not a super feel good flick but it's enjoyably sweet and sad and worth a look at.
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| pinksteeler's Full Review: Marley & Me |
It's strange. I wanted to go out to the movies specifically for a few laughs and ended up with bloodshot eyes from crying yet still having a good time. Last night my neighbor and I decided to head out to the theater in hopes of lifting our post-seasonal blues. We both needed to decompress so a flick and food sounded good. We opted for Marley & Me since it appeared to be a lighthearted and funny film. (Ok, I'll admit, we also wanted to see it because Owen Wilson is quite a cutie!)
Oh how little did we know...
Marley & Me is currently tops in the box office and is based on the best-selling book by John Grogan. The PG movie is about two hours long. Basically it's a story about a fourteen-year relationship between Grogan and Marley (the dog) through marriage, children, and job changes.
Owen Wilson plays John Grogan, a newspaper columnist, and Jennifer Aniston plays his wife, Jennifer Grogan. Both do a satisfactory job in their roles though I found Owen to be more believable than Jennifer most times. Though I have to give her complete credit and respect for a couple of scenes where I was able to forget the actress and see "Mrs. Grogan" in trying and troubling situations. For example, I bought the whole overloaded maniacal mom bit as well as the tender, painful reaction to a miscarriage.
Unfortunately, neither of the actors appeared to age much over the fourteen years. John Grogan's college buddy Sebastian performed by Eric Dane doesn't age either nor does his character's maturity. Sebastian is a womanizing bachelor that fulfills all of the two guy's writing aspirations but appears at the end of the movie to be less content as John. I suppose it was for this purpose that they included him but I don't believe he was crucial to the story.
Alan Arkin delivers a fairly strong presentation as John's boss, newspaper editor, Arnie Klein. Mr. Klein stumbles on John's true talent for being a columnist rather than a reporter. He also guides him over a few marital hurdles. Arkin achieves this with genuine grace inside a mildly gruff delivery of a character that was likeable and plausible.
Overall the somewhat slow moving movie had a number of moments filled with gritty humor, a couple of endearing scenarios, a plethora of sweet doggy shots, and a heavier than expected sprinkling of sad scenes. I'm not bemoaning the sorrowful content. It was sincere. They're authentic emotions encountered on the rollercoaster of feelings during life and director David Frankel displayed them with wincing beauty.
At its core, Marley & Me is an unadorned love story about a couple that while struggling with their individual professions, adopt a dog, marry, have children, change and give up jobs, move, and take care of their family. Nothing extraordinary except that Marley is a nut case of a Golden Labrador with a severe pica disorder. He's a neurotic canine with the bizarre and indiscriminate eating habits of a grizzled old goat.
No doubt about it, Marley is a challenge. Truthfully, I don't care how cute and loving he is, I don't think I could have handled this crazed beast. However, Marley's overwhelming love and devotion shine through his wacky and destructive behavior and his impact on all members of the Grogan family is keenly felt by movie's end.
Ahh... the ending, well I don't want to reveal the conclusion but common sense hint at a need for tissues. After all, fourteen years is a pretty long time in a dog's life. Was I disappointed with the ending? No, not really. It was fine. It was REAL. It was painful but true.
The way I see it, there's a fragile loveliness in this movie's reality. It served for me, a bittersweet reminder of those departed furry loved ones that have blessed my life. I cried again not for Marley but for my dog Muttley, and my cats Ebony and Ivory. Those tears I tried to stop while sitting in the darkened theater were tinged with happy snapshots of my beloved critters mingled with the melancholy of missing them and the misery of reliving the moments when I lost them. But I didn't dwell here and neither did my neighbor. We cried, we smiled in sympathy at the other red-eyed patrons, and gave thanks for our fuzzy family members. We rejoiced in the simple message of the movie: Pets love us, no matter what.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Family Movie
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Pacing
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Epinions.com ID:
pinksteeler
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Location: PA
Reviews written: 371
Trusted by: 44 members
About Me:
Autumn’s chilly breezes and colorful sights guided me back to wanting to write.
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