Family Movie Review: Marley and Me

Our family ventured out for dinner and a movie last night. Well actually, we caught the matinee and then had dinner. Yes, cheap movie tickets and a $10 dinner coupon. I’m lovin it! I know, I’m a miser!

My daughter REALLY wanted to see Marley and Me, so guess what movie we watched? Yup, you guessed it, very good! Overall I would say this was a good movie. AND for anyone who has ever had a life-long canine companion, you will quickly relate and relive some fond (and maybe not so fond!) memories.

Based on the best selling book by John Grogan, the story is transformed to the big screen as Marley and Me with the tag line “life and love with the world’s worst dog”. The story begins with John (Owen Wilson) and Jenny Grogan (Jennifer Aniston) planning their lives together, wanting to have kids, but deciding instead to adopt a cute little Labrador Retriever from the local rescue. They soon discover that this little puppy has a knack for mischief.

The movie takes us through the lives of the Grogan’s. As they have kids and build their family, struggle with married life, advance their careers in journalism, all the while dealing with their beloved, yet extremely badly behaved dog. There are some incredibly funny scenes with Marley destroying everything in sight. If you have ever raised a puppy, you will surely recognize some of Marley’s antics. I immediately began to think about my dog Sandy when he was about 3 months old. I had come home from work to find my Christmas tree pulled over, bulbs busted, light strands chewed and branches spread all over the house. This movie was able to bring back many fond memories of my Sandy.

Despite the previews showing all the funny, family-friendly scenes, this movie is rated PG (yes that means Parental Guidance) and is probably not appropriate for the youngest viewers. There was a family of 6 sitting in front of us and the five year old sat in his dads lap, facing ME for most of the movie, totally uninterested. Besides, there was some mildly suggestive scenes, a little cursing and some drinking. Nothing major, just thought I’d throw that out there.

Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston both gave solid, believable performances. Alan Arkin did a great job as John’s editor at the newspaper. And an unrecognizable Kathleen Turner had a pretty funny scene. In all, I would recommend taking your family to see Marley and Me. Be warned, it is a tear jerker, but is also filled with some funny, for-real scenes that will dig up memories of pets present and pets past.

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** The picture above was in our local paper, THE VIRGINIAN PILOT, circa Spring of 1993. The caption below it read “Sandy, a Golden Retriever mix goes up and over the back of his owner, John Bristol of Virginia Beach, on Sunday to try and snag a watermelon-like frisbee. Sandy and Bristol were taking part in the second annual Dog-Gonest Dog Show at Mount Trashmore Park in Virginia Beach.” Staff Photo by D Kevin Elliott

Tagged as: Dog-Gonest Dog Show • dogs • family movie • Jennifer Aniston • Marley and Me movie review • Owen Wilson • Sandy