To
me, it just seems like a whole lot of picking up poo and smelly wet
hair. But I know, deep down, there must be more to it than that.
Based on the best selling book of the same name, Marley & Me
goes some way in trying to explain how the relationships with these
fascinating creatures grow, thrive, divide and eventually end.
It
follows a newly wed couple (Jenifer Aniston and Owen Wilson - who is
back on screen for the first time since that little "suicide" attempt)
who aren't quite ready to take the plunge with a baby, so opt to adopt
a cute as hell puppy.
The only problem is - the puppy gets
bigger, the puppy gets more annoying and the once happy couple get more
than they bargained for.
While you get the feeling that dog owners will get the most out of Marley & Me, it must be said that the films approach does bravely tackle the unhappiness of new love.
In fact, it almost gets a little depressing.
On
paper, a Christmas release like this delivers pretty consistent
material. It's filled with all that humerous lovey dovey stuff - but
here you've also got the added bonus of the wacky adventures of an over
sized dog.
And for the first half of Marley & Me, that's
exactly what you get - as it essentially plays out as a less punchline
driven version of the Beethoven movies.
But
where director, Dave Frankel, should be commended is in his courage to
take the film far beyond the usual rom-com fare and sticking to his
guns without letting the studio interfere in favour of making it "more
like an Ashton Kutcher movie".
He takes us well past the
"Honeymoon" period and well into "I can not stand my partner anymore, we
bore each other, do I even still love them?" period of life.
It is real life - and it sucks. The question is, do you really want to be reminded of that on screen?
There
are some great performances here from Wilson (who bravely moves out of
his comedy comfort zone) and Alan Arkin (as the most unbelievably nice
newspaper editor in the history of publishing) which constantly toe the
line between not-to-sappy and sincere - and it is ultimately a good mix.
Marley & Me is by no means the "wacky dog comedy" the advertising might suggest and in doing so, surprisingly, means there is a much more enjoyable (if not occasionally bland) and touching film on offer.
... Not as touching as it might have been had it involved dug-up dead gold fish though. DVD EXTRAS
This has already become one of the highest selling DVDs of the year
(despite being only a middling success in Australia) taking out Top
Spot on the DVD sales charts in it's opening week ahead of Twilight.
Included
here are Deleted scenes with optional commentary by the director, a
fairly tame Gag reel, plus a bunch of Featurettes which prove "Never
work with Animals" in Hollywood.
Conclusion:
Movie 75% Extras: 60%
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