Review of Marley & Me (2008) by Ian E — 22 Feb 2015

Featuring a pair of talented leads and a concept about a dog, Marley & Me sounded like a funny feature.

Marley & Me was a good experience, but the tone of it was really strange. Sure, there were many moments of the film which were funny based on real-life antics of a crazy dog, but it felt like a very serious feature. I expected that the film would be a romantic comedy, but the comedy of the film more or less rested strictly in the dog based concept. Although the film was a comedy for most of the time at the start, as it went on things developed into a far more dramatic state which left the jokes of the film and the entire concept surrounding the titular dog Marley to play second fiddle to a story about John Grogan as he follows his ambitions as a columnist and a journalist. There doesn't seem to be a story worth telling in the film, but rather a series of plot dynamics which get pushed together to tell a story which uneasily walks the line between comedy and drama. I'll admit that I liked the characters in the film because there was a charming sense of realism in the story, and I also found the premise surrounding Marley to be funny at times. But there was never a perfect consistency between them which gave the film a strange feel. There is no telling if Marley & Me is a comedy or a drama, but the majority of the film seems predominantly focused in the dramatic nature of the story which can be dull at times. The charm is there and the cast are likable, but Marley & Me is a thoroughly routine film. It is one of the better films that fit that quota, but it is still nothing to boast about too highly.

The comedy in Marley & Me largely prevents the film from becoming a by the numbers drama tale which has been told countless times before. The entire premise of the relationship between John and Jenny Grogan is a familiar one, as is his journey to becoming a journalist and everything getting in the way of that. The story of the couple adopting a dog is the one thing setting it apart from everything else, and luckily enough the humour around that concept is enough to transcend the familiar roots of the tale. It is still a formulaic film, but there is just enough to set it apart from the countless similar features and remain a film which succeeds in parts as a comedy and a drama despite its imbalance.

For dog people, Marley & Me is hard to dislike. The tale of a couple adjusting to life with a rowdy animal as well as comparing the responsibility of an animal owner to a parent is enjoyable. The entire film takes a really touching approach to the concept of taking care of a household pet, and even though the plot points regarding a dog as maniacal as Marley seem a little ridiculous to be a true story, they are funny enough to simply lay back and embrace as they chronicle a likable pet. He is a really cute character with a lot of energy, and the 22 two dogs that played the character did a really nice job capturing the rowdy nature of the character but still doing it within the reaches of the camera as to not stretch out beyond it. Marley & Me gains a lot of cutsie charm based on the quality of its canine performers, but I wish that there was more of the film depicting Marley when he was a very little pup instead of as he grew into a bigger dog because a dog's puppy phase is when it is at its cutest, and the promotional material for Marley & Me really suggested that it would be about his life as a pup. It is misleading in that sense as it chronicles him over multiple years, and I will admit that the gimmick of a rowdy canine stretched over a period of 14 years can only go so far which would explain why it was reduced to being a subplot. But still, it mostly works all in all.

And the cast in Marley & Me contribute a fair effort.

Owen Wilson makes a likable lead in Marley & Me. While he portrays essentially the same somewhat neurotic but likable archetype that he has played in almost every film he has ever been in, he still makes a likable figure in Marley & Me due to the fact that he approaches the subject matter really gently. His chemistry with the many canines in the film is nice, his pairing up with Jennifer Aniston has them working together really easily and in his own subtle way he captures a sense of passion for the field of writing. Owen Wilson makes a likable if familiar protagonist for Marley & Me.

Jennifer Aniston also does a nice job. While she is an actress known mainly for her comedic roles, she manages to do justice to the drama in Marley & Me nicely. The light atmosphere of the film allows her natural charm to flow during the more comedic moments of the script, but during the dramatic parts of the film she really manages to step it up without going melodramatic. She moderates her naturally likable charm with an appealing dramatic strength, and she really works hard with Owen Wilson to ensure that the two are an effective duo.

So Marley & Me benefits from a cute and charming story about an unstoppable playful canine and his relationship with his owners, and the performances of Owen Wilson and Jennifer Anistron are effective, but the lack of balance between drama and comedy in the atmosphere as well as its general sense of familiarity make it a far from perfect film which is likable more for its gimmicks and charm than originality.