Are you a cat person or a dog person? One of the age-old questions. Dogs love you no matter what. Cats are more selective. Dogs chew up your shoes. Cats claw up the sofa. Dogs are like a kid on a long car ride who did not plan ahead by using the bathroom at the last rest stop. Cats are trained to use their litter box. Dogs play fetch. Cats play with string. Dogs bark in the night. Cats howl for food. Dogs jump up the moment you come home. Cats wake up from their nap to give you a little squinty-eyed smiled before curling up again. No matter what you prefer, loving one means you love animals all the same. And then there was Marley. The type of dog that could turn you into a cat person…and then back to dogs again. Marley was a bad dog. Bad, bad dog.
To be prepared to watch Marley & Me, you need the following items: 1) A box of tissues. It’s a tearjerker, and not just for criers. 2) Your pet. It’s the kind of movie that’ll make you want to give old Spot or Fluffy a big hug. 3) Family or friends. It’s a warm cuddly kind of movie that’s nice to share with someone you care about. 4) And maybe a snack, because, it’s pretty long. Then you're ready for Marley & Me.
Writers John Grogan (Owen Wilson) and Jen Grogan (Jennifer Aniston) are a happily married young couple who move down to Florida for warm weather and to eventually start a family. John wants to put off having kids for a while longer and at the advice of his bachelor pal (played by Eric Dane, who also plays the exact same character in Grey’s Anatomy as “McSteamy”) gets a puppy to tide Jen over. They pick the cheapest yellow labrador in the bunch. Unfortunately, cheapest also means the rowdiest. Marley is the dog from hell. He’s cute and lovable, but won’t learn any of the basic dog commands: sit, heel, stay. Not for a treat, not for anything. He doesn’t need a treat when he’s full from eating the sofa, anyway.
Marley is a handful and they can be sure that after a day at the office, they can return home to find something torn up. With time, the Grogan’s add children into the mix, which includes a couple of housing changes and other plot twists, with the whole “bad dog” scenario.
While the movie follows the exact plot you figure before pressing play, it’s entertaining and isn’t that the point? It doesn’t trick you or keep you in suspense, it just tells you a story that will make you laugh and cry. Owen Wilson is charming, as usual, with his soft unpretentious voice delivering his same lightly sarcastic lines, giving you the humor you already know you like. Jennifer Aniston plays her part dutifully by letting Wilson be the funny one, even though you know she’s got the goods. He takes the lead and narrates, while she plays the stay-at-home-mom and spunky sidekick. Not to mention the dogs—I’m sure the various dogs they used to play Marley were very well trained. They must’ve been very good to play “very bad.”
This movie is for the cat people too because there could never be a movie this moving about a cat. Dogs are dumb enough that they allow themselves to be trained; meaning they can play the third starring role under two mammoth actors, and all you need is a pocket full of dog biscuits. You could never do that with a cat. A cat would turn its nose up at you and prance off—so Marley & Me is perfect for both dog people and cat people alike.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
As was expected, the DVD was packed with extras. Everything you could ever want from a DVD is on this one. My two favorite things in the extra features of any DVD are the gag reel and the “making of” section, and this one has both—and they both satisfy. It’s hard to find a gag reel at all, let alone a good one. It has a commentary feature from director David Frankel, a couple of dog-related featurettes and a reel of deleted scenes. The Blu-ray comes with three discs. One’s got the movie and some special features while another is loaded with special features—but the third is a digital copy you can upload onto your computer or multimedia player. It’s the new thing and Marley’s got it! It sure is the cat’s meow.
"Marley & Me" is on sale March 31, 2009 and is rated PG. Children & Family, Comedy. Directed by David Frankel. Written by Scott Frank and Don Roos (screenplay) ; John Grogan (book). Starring Alan Arkin, Jennifer Aniston, Owen Wilson, Kathleen Turner.
