Marley & Me: This movie should have had me at hello!
Written: Jan 04 '09 (Updated Jan 04 '09)
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson work well with one another. Alan Arkin provides laughs
Cons: The movie struggles for authenticity.
The Bottom Line: This movie should have had me at hello, instead it was a failure to launch.
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| rudixeno's Full Review: Marley & Me |
I am not a curmudgeon, really I'm not. You can ask around Epinions.
I love my wife, I love my kids, I've loved my dogs and I'm pretty familiar by now with this circle of life thing.
I'm a guy who thinks it's okay for a guy to cry by the end of a movie. In fact, I think if a movie maker can get me teary, he's succeeded at some very core level. You should see me watching the closing scenes of "Big Fish".
But, with Marley & Me, director David Frankel just failed to deliver.
So Many Hooks
The Grogans move from Boca Raton to Buck's County, PA. The Xenos move from Buck's County to Boca Raton.
Marley never stops chasing and chewing things, Brandy never stops barking or bring her ball back to me.
It's the Holiday Season, a season when it's pretty normal to look back over one's lifetime and reflect.
I (and my family) knew what this movie was all about being familiar with John Grogan and his best-selling book.
I tell you if ever a guy was pumped and primed to appreciate a movie, I am that guy. So why am I sitting here the next morning feeling so let down?
Failure to Gel
I can't help feeling that too much time was taken on the front end of this movie establishing the relationship between Wilson and Aniston's characters and their career development and too little time was spent getting this family to gel.
Sure, there were three sweet kids there, but I never got to know them, did you? I never really saw any scenes that would explain the bond between the kids and Marley. I mean that shouldn't have taken much effort. We're talking about kids and dogs here, c'mon!
Frankel succeeds at convincing me that Marley just might be "the worst dog in the world", but he fails to endear the dog to me.
Earlier, I referred to my Miniature Schnauzer, Brandy, a dog who was born to bark. This dog can drive me right up a wall. But, then there are times when I'm at my laptop and she sticks her face up under my forearm and starts speaking "Schnauzer" to me. "I'm hungry", "I gotta poop" and of course the show stopping "I'm waiting for you to rub my belly" position. These are the moments that create a bond.
I didn't get any of these moments during this movie. So when the movie was ending my brain registered the loss and grief but my heart didn't. And to me, that's a shame.
I'd recommend you buy the book. This movie can wait for the DVD release.
Regards,
Rudi
Recommended:
No
Movie Mood: Family Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Pacing
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Epinions.com ID:
rudixeno
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Member: Rudi Xeno
Location: Boca Raton, FL
Reviews written: 195
Trusted by: 161 members
About Me:
"Nothing is to be more highly prized than the value of each day"
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