Marley and Me

I watched this a couple of weeks ago, on DVD.  My guess is that most everyone has already seen it, but I am going to write a review anyways, whether you like it or not.  It just took a while to get the time to do it, and then figure out exactly what I am going to say.  Actually, I'm still not sure exactly.  Oh, well.  Here goes nothing!

WARNING: MANY, MANY SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!

The Plot:

Owen Wilson plays John Grogan, a married man who was not prepared for his new wife's ticking biological clock.  To hold off Jennifer Grogan's (Jennifer Aniston) longing for a child, John takes her to go pick out a new puppy at a local farm, as suggested by John's bachelor, womanizing friend Sebastian (Eric Dane).  The puppy they end up taking home was the "clearance puppy", the one who was significantly cheaper than all the rest.  They soon learn why.  The dog, Marley, has behavior problems from the start, and grows into a very large, completely untrained Labrador Retriever.  Meanwhile, John, a reporter, gets a job offer at his local Florida paper - his boss offers him a column, believing his writing style to better fit that of a columnist.  John slightly reluctantly accepts, but soon learns to love his new position and uses Marley as the inspiration for many of his pieces.  After a while, the Grogans resolve that they are ready to have children.  Unfortunately, their first success ends in a devastating miscarriage, but soon Jennifer becomes pregnant again, and gives birth to a baby boy named Patrick.  They go on to have two more children, Conor and Colleen.  There are many difficulties at first, a lot which Marley seems to be at the bottom of, and throughout the beginning there are fights and avoidances and everything you could expect to find any couple going through.  One day, John gets a job offer at a paper in Pennsylvania, and after discussing it with his wife, they uproot and make the move to a big, old house on a beautiful piece of land right outside of the city.  There John truly grows into a family man, even when he is put down by his old friend Sebastian when he runs into him one day on the way back from work.  But, as all dogs do, Marley is getting old.  After years of destroying everything in sight, making as much noise as possible, romping around uncontrollably, and all around being the "world's worst dog", Marley is slowing down significantly.  After a repeated case of Marley needing surgery, John finally makes the decision that his beloved family dog must be put down.  Marley is, and the family mourns, knowing that Marley has a special place in their hearts and has made a big impact on their family, for the better, even if he was, as John called him, "the world's worst dog."  

What I liked:

It was realisticly written.  I found out just now, doing a little research to remember the people's names, that the movie is actually based off of an autobiography of the same title, by the same John Grogan.  Jennifer Aniston actually did not annoy me too much with her acting.  I liked how it pushed the idea of family and purposefully made John's friend Sebastian's way of life look unfulfilling and purposeless, unlike most Hollywood films, which do just the opposite.  

What I didn't like:

I did not really like, in the beginning, how John Grogan had just gotten married, and here he was trying to manipulate his wife into waiting a year or two to have kids!  And it worked!  And everyone was fine!  I really, really detest that Sebastian guy...what a loser.  First of all I am quite adament about couples talking about "when to have children" before getting married so that there is no misunderstanding, and secondly, I really hate it when guys are portrayed like that.  It is the norm, possibly, but that kind of gives the impression that it is manly to want to still be independant and not tied down after marriage, and that is not the case.  There are guys who agree with me....right?  

And another thing.  This movie, though PG-rated, contained way more sexual implications than it should have, dialogue and otherwise.  Sure, it was all between a husband and wife, but that stuff should still be kept between married people and not broadcast for the entire non-married population to see, especially kids that parents thought they were bringing to a family movie.  Fortunately, I watched this with my grandma, screening it before everyone else in my family, who, from my oral reviews, have decided not to watch it.  Still, it was too much than even a simple scene or two that could be fast-forwarded; it was prominent in the plot and kept coming back.  

The last thing I did not like about it was that it contained a bit of crude humor here and there, some not appropriate for anyone under the age of 15 or so.  I know the screenwriters just threw it in there for a few easy laughs, so it bugged me.  

My Overall Impression:

It made me laugh at most of the "right" parts and definitely did a good job a drawing tears. Altoghether a very well done film, really.  I just did not find it as appropriate for a family audience as I had hoped, as I had gone into Blockbuster that afternoon looking for something that would specifically allow me to watch it through without having to keep my hand on the remote the entire time and fastforward half of it, and I thought that "Marley and Me" was the ticket.  It would have been fine, I think, had it not been so littered with sexual innuendos and whatnot.  A real tear-jerker, though.  If you don't want to be sad and/or cry uncontrolably, don't watch it.  :)