starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson
directed by David Frankel
screenplay by Scott Frank and Don Roos
screenplay by Scott Frank and Don Roos
***WARNING -- THIS REVIEW CONTAINS A MODERATE SPOILER***
Let me first state that I am by no means a dog person...or a cat person...or an animal person, in general. It's not that I hate animals, but I never grew up with one in my house, so I never felt that connection with "man's best friend." So, I walked into Marley and Me expecting nothing, and walked out moderately impressed.
Based on a true story, there's no fancy storytelling here...it's a simple story about a man, his dog Marley, his family, and his newspaper job at which he writes about his normal life. That's it. It's two hours of a dog drinking out of a toilet, running rampant through a new house, and pooping in a yard. Yeah, nothing too exciting there. That being said, there was something here, in large part due to a winning lead performance by Owen Wilson. I've never been the biggest fan of the troubled actor, but Wilson was onscreen in nearly every scene and definitely held my interest. His chemistry with Aniston was surprisingly palpable...and his chemistry with Marley was even stronger. And that's what a movie like this needs in order to make it be watchable.
The movie isn't perfect by any means. Aniston struggles in her early scenes with her newborn children (she was still a joy to look at...see picture to the right for proof of that statement); as the kids grow they're played by cloying child actors; and Wilson's workplace scenes with co-star Eric Dane are completely and utterly pointless.
Yet, I can see why this movie's a big hit. It's perfectly acceptable middle-of-the-road fare that appeals to a broad population of dog-lovers. And even though I wasn't "ooh"ing and "aww"ing as Marley tore up the sofa and knocked down dog trainer Kathleen Turner (who is looking mighty scary, by the way), and even though I wasn't crying at the end (fair warning...this movie gives Old Yeller a run for it's money), and even though I sat through two hours of this movie and still can't tell you the breed of the titular character, Marley and Me was perfectly acceptable. While that's not a rousing endorsement, I'm certainly not "dogging" the movie either.
Let me first state that I am by no means a dog person...or a cat person...or an animal person, in general. It's not that I hate animals, but I never grew up with one in my house, so I never felt that connection with "man's best friend." So, I walked into Marley and Me expecting nothing, and walked out moderately impressed.
Based on a true story, there's no fancy storytelling here...it's a simple story about a man, his dog Marley, his family, and his newspaper job at which he writes about his normal life. That's it. It's two hours of a dog drinking out of a toilet, running rampant through a new house, and pooping in a yard. Yeah, nothing too exciting there. That being said, there was something here, in large part due to a winning lead performance by Owen Wilson. I've never been the biggest fan of the troubled actor, but Wilson was onscreen in nearly every scene and definitely held my interest. His chemistry with Aniston was surprisingly palpable...and his chemistry with Marley was even stronger. And that's what a movie like this needs in order to make it be watchable.
The movie isn't perfect by any means. Aniston struggles in her early scenes with her newborn children (she was still a joy to look at...see picture to the right for proof of that statement); as the kids grow they're played by cloying child actors; and Wilson's workplace scenes with co-star Eric Dane are completely and utterly pointless.
Yet, I can see why this movie's a big hit. It's perfectly acceptable middle-of-the-road fare that appeals to a broad population of dog-lovers. And even though I wasn't "ooh"ing and "aww"ing as Marley tore up the sofa and knocked down dog trainer Kathleen Turner (who is looking mighty scary, by the way), and even though I wasn't crying at the end (fair warning...this movie gives Old Yeller a run for it's money), and even though I sat through two hours of this movie and still can't tell you the breed of the titular character, Marley and Me was perfectly acceptable. While that's not a rousing endorsement, I'm certainly not "dogging" the movie either.
The RyMickey Rating: B-
I just felt the need to openly boo the 'dogging it' pun in the last line. So,
ReplyDeleteboooooooooooooooooooooo
Oh, come on...this was like the first review...i deemed it clever...maybe not so much, though...
ReplyDeleteThe reviews have gotten better. But 'dogging it' is pretty bad, I mean, that's like Steve-level punning there.
ReplyDelete