Marley and Me - Solid Entertainment with the World's Worst Dog!
Written: Mar 16 '09 (Updated Mar 16 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Very good cast, strong storyline well handled...
Cons: ... it did feel like maybe 20 minutes longer than it should have been...
The Bottom Line: Perhaps a tad overlong, but Marley and Me is a very good film.
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| captaind's Full Review: Marley & Me |
Marley and Me is the story of the world's worst dog. Well actually it isn't - it's the story of how one man's life changes after getting a puppy for his wife in the hope of slowing down her maternal urges. The story goes through the early days of marriage, getting a house, getting a job, trying to choose a career, moving house, starting a family and finally coping with the loss of a loved one - albeit not a human loved one.
The man in question is John Grogan (Owen Wilson) and his new wife (the movie starts with a freak snow blizzard on their wedding day, which is hoped to be a good omen!) is Jenny (Jennifer Aniston). The dog in question is, of course, Marley, who starts out small and sweet but, before you know it, has turned into a hundred pounds weight of pure chaos. The supporting cast include John's friend Sebastian (Eric Dane), the editor of the newspaper where he works (Alan Arkin), and the dog trainer (Kathleen Turner). All of the cast do well, with Arkin's performance in particular being enjoyable. The editor is a laconic character with a lot of life experience and a very dry sense of humour, and guides John through quite a few issues in his own understated way. Children turn up later and the young cast members who portray them do a very good job too.
Both Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston give very strong performances here. Despite the frequent goofy humour and mad capers that characterise the early scenes in the film, all in all it's actually quite a serious movie and deals with a lot of issues. The issues are dealt with in a non-nonsense, unsentimental fashion and the script retains believability, with Wilson and Aniston both utterly believable in their roles. It's a bit of departure for both of them, and the quality of their acting here can only do their careers good.
The change in pace from often slapstick and silly humour to a somewhat more sombre tone is well handled and adds to the film rather than detracts from it. Marley and Me would appeal more to dog lovers (which I'm not), but anyone who's ever had a pet of any kind will be able to empathise with the characters in the film. There's not a great deal of action other than the misbehaviour of the dog, but the film is paced quite nicely and though at a shade under 2 hours it does feel a bit overlong, it never really got boring. I've seen it described as a "family movie", but I'm not entirely sure I'd agree with that - some of the more emotional scenes could easily be upsetting for very young children. It's rated PG for thematic material, some suggestive content and language.
The music and cinematography add nicely to the film without being outstanding. Director David Frankel gives us a good mix of drama and comedy here, albeit with a slight of hand at the beginning with all the "chasing after the naughty dog" scenes.
Overall I was pleasantly surprised by Marley and Me. It doesn't fall into the trap of over-sentimentality and the acting is superb. Even though I had some misgivings going into it (it wasn't really my choice of film), I found it to be an intelligent, thoughtful and entertaining movie.
Other Films Starring Owen Wilson: Shanghai Noon, Shanghai Knights, Night at the Museum
Other Films Starring Jennifer Aniston: Rumour Has It, The Break-Up
Other Films Starring Kathleen Turner: Romancing the Stone, Jewel of the Nile
Other Doggy Movies: Bolt, Good Boy, Look Who's Talking Now
Recommended:
Yes
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