Marley and Me

I want to make one thing very clear: Marley and Me is not the happy-go-lucky family movie it appears to be in the advertisements. My younger kids wanted to see it because they thought it was a kids movie, and fortunately, I knew enough about the best-selling book that it was based on to know better than to take them along. I didn't know much about the story prior to watching the movie, but I did know that it wasn't just a funny story about a misbehaving dog. In respect to those who had the unenviable task of trying to market this film to mass audiences, it would be hard to pinpoint what this movie really is in a 30 second trailer. I just want to make it perfectly clear, the trailer for this film does not do it justice. It is so much more than a shallow, silly "dog" movie.

Even though the title is Marley and Me, there is a lot more going on than just Marley the dog and the "me" of the title, journalist John Grogan. The film opens on the night of John's marriage to Jenny and follows them through the peaks and valleys of what is essentially a normal life, to an inevitable end that is easy to predict, but shockingly affecting nonetheless. It's hard to go into a lot of detail about the plot because the plot really is so...normal. This is basically a film about a man and his wife going through the cycles of life that most people really do experience. Marriage, career changes, children, and all of the sometimes unpleasant emotions that can come along with those things. In many ways, the only difference between their life and mine is the dog (and the high-paying, high profile jobs, but I'm going to pass up that U-turn down jealousy road). John and Jenny are accompanied down every path they take by the faithful and untrainable dog, Marley, who John initially purchases for Jenny to distract her from the quickening pace of her biological clock. This is a film about unconditional love and support, whether it comes from a human or an drywall eating animal.

Owen Wilson is not someone I would have chosen to play the role of a family man. I guess that's why I'm not a casting director, because it would've been a grave mistake to pass on him. He is a perfect fit for John, the family man who doesn't quite know how he got so lucky, and sometimes doesn't quite know if he can handle everything he's been given. Jennifer Aniston brings a sweetness to a character who could've been misrepresented in any other hands. She's an actress who has never shown a lot of range, but sits well on roles like this one. I don't know how well she would do with a meaty Oscar bait role, but parts like this are made for her. The two actors are believable as John and Jenny, two smart people with a deep sense of commitment to each other. The chemistry is there, whether laughing together in bed or trying to curb their frustrations with each other.

That brings me to one of the things that I liked the most, and hated the most on some level; I'm not saying my husband and I are as pretty as Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston, but there were some fights in the film that I know we've had. In my personal opinion (and this is a very personal and situational thing), this was one of the more realistic representations of marriage that I've seen on film. This movie showcased what committed relationships are really like. The mistakes and insensitivities of a working husband, the frustration and demands of an exhausted stay-at-home mom. And at the end of the day, the love that both still harbor for each other.

I only have one complaint about this film, which is rare for me. What were the filmmakers thinking, throwing Kathleen Turner into the mix for a cameo as a militant dog trainer? I can understand the need for the scene, and it was one of the better light-hearded scenes in the movie. However, her presence was distracting. Her appearance cheapened the movie for me, because there was no purpose. I spent the entire scene thinking about how bad she looks. Why have a celebrity give a poor cameo appearance in a role that could've been done much better by a talented extra? It was senseless, and it took away from the integrity of the film.

I can forgive that five minute abomination because this movie really was good. I went into it knowing that it wasn't my kind of movie. It's about a dog, for pete's sake! I'm not a dog lover. I don't hate dogs, but I definitely have never loved a dog the way John and his family love Marley. I also rarely cry at movies. This one required two tissues, and two minutes to collect myself after the credits before I was ready to walk out of the theater. I may not be a dog person, but I am a cat person. And the first thing I did when I walked into my house after seeing Marley and Me was pick up my cat Jack and hug him for a minute. So it's not just for dog lovers, after all.