MARLEY & ME stars Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston as John and Jen Grogan - a young couple beginning their married life together. It chronicles various changes in their life: marriage, careers, buying a house, etc. They feel like they've got it all - except a little creature to love and nurture. Not sure he's ready for a baby, John buys her a dog. Marley is a sweet little puppy, who soon becomes a large, uncontrollable dog! He chews everything, barks at everything, and has a neurotic fear of lightning (they live in Florida!). He pulls them along when he's leashed, chases birds, poops in the ocean at the dog beach...well you get the picture. He is a nightmare. But for some reason they love him. They try taking him to obedience school - but it doesn't quite work out. (By the way - the doggie teacher didn't look familiar, but that voice was unmistakable. It was Kathleen Turner - and she looked...different.)
It had a PG rating and so my friend and I took our kids (ages 7, 8, 9, 12). Mostly it was clean - no bad language, no violence. But there were some suggestive scenes which surprised me for a PG rating. In one scene, Jen faces John, and takes off her dress and jumps in the pool. (they only show her from behind). A couple of other times it shows them in bed - nothing graphic, but it alludes to what they are about to do (i.e., squeaking bed).
The only other thing I can say critically about it is that Jen and John look the same through the whole movie. I'd guess its a time span of about 10-12 years, and while they wouldn't have been old and gray, you'd think that after three kids, they might have changed a little bit. They could have at least given her a "mom" haircut or something! Also, you never quite feel their characters connect with their children. I felt totally aware that the kids were only playing their children.
But other than that, it was a good movie. Wilson and Aniston are both excellent, and portray the ups and downs of marriage and parenthood very well. From the time Jen got pregnant for the first time, I had a lump in my throat - and it pretty much stayed there til the end if the movie.
As you can already guess, the movie spans the lifetime of a dog. And while you can probably predict the ending, it still is incredibly sad. As I was trying unsuccessfully not to cry, I heard sniffles around the theater.
The friend I was with wondered if it had been a good idea to take the kids to see this movie, since her daughter was sobbing as we walked out. My son said he "almost" cried. The older boys said - a little too enthusiastically to believe them - that they didn't cry and that it was a boring movie. (Methinks they doth protest too much...)
I came home feeling tenderly towards my dog.
But I'm sure I'll get over it the next time I go on a poop safari in our yard.
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