Review of Marley & Me (2008) by Filipeneto — 17 Jun 2019

A family movie more somber and serious than most.

This family film is based on the way a dog affects, touches and becomes an indispensable presence in the life of a family. In fact, the film is very beautiful and contains an affectionate message about the importance of animals in our lives. That is enough to make the film attractive to lovers of the genre, but anyone who does not have a particular appetite for family movies will probably find it too sugary or at least boring.

Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston are both competent in the two main human roles (the dog is the central character of the film, of course). I found the romantic chemistry of the two actors good and convincing, but the work developed by them seemed a little warm, good just for the kind of movie it is. Despite everything, and being a comedic film, it deals with very serious issues such as family relationships between parents, children and parents, postpartum depression, pain of loss and mourning. These themes not only make the film more serious than an ordinary family film as they have been reason enough for some parents not to show it to their children.

I personally enjoyed the movie, but it's far from my favorite with regard to family movies. In fact, it is darker than most, but this does not seem to me as an impediment for young people (not smaller children, but those who have some maturity to understand things as they are) to see and understand the messages that it passes.