Marley & Me (2008)

Directed by David Frankel

Written by Scott Frank and Don Roos
Based on the book by John Grogan

Owen Wilson...John Grogan
Jennifer Aniston...Jennifer Grogan
Eric Dane...Sebastian
Kathleen Turner...Ms. Kornblut
Alan Arkin...Arnie Klein

Rated PG
Runtime: 2 hrs.

The preview for Marley & Me made me cringe. I can't handle things that are designed to get a reaction out of me. Particularly when that reaction has something to do with how cute something is. It seemed the movie would be nothing more than a series of scenes in which Marley does horrible things and we all, collectively, think "Ooh, look how cute the dog is!" Well, I for one ain't down wit' dat.

I have this thing called a girlfriend, however. (She likes to be called Tracy.) She's fantastic in many ways but still has that stereotypically female weakness for all things...cute. Guess where I was Christmas Day? That's right, butt firmly planted in a seat watching Marley & Me.

Fortunately for all involved, the movie's really good. It's based on the book by John Grogan (here played by Owen Wilson), unread by me. He's a reporter, or wants to be. He and his wife, Jennifer (Jennifer Aniston), move to Florida and get jobs at different papers. In an early scene, they sip coffee as they compare their first stories. His about speed bumps. Hers a bit more important and a bit longer. And a scene in another movie that could have been played broadly for laughs or drama is simply handled as it would be in most households across America: he's proud of her and jealous and she knows it. And that's it.

Locked in careers, John can tell children a coming down the pike, and a bit faster than he'd like. So what better way to distract his wife than with a puppy? Hey, it works. Around this time, at John's paper, a columnist leaves and his editor (Alan Arkin) has him fill in, just for a little bit. John's not to sure, feeling he's giving up ground on his dream to be a reporter. But hey, it's temporary. So he writes a column about Marley. Well, people love reading about dogs almost as much as they love looking at them. So the column becomes a success. Again, never overtly stated. There are no slo-mo scenes of John walking down the beach and people recognizing him. A person references his column and he and his editor discuss its success once.

Eventually kids come, life choices are made, friendships change. Where is Marley in all of this? Right there. As our pets are, bearing witness to our lives. Sometimes ignored. Sometimes chewing on the furniture. But always there. As the movie progressed, I wondered how much I actually cared about Marley. A great deal it turns out.

The movie gets so much right. Male camaraderie, relationships, pets, growing up. There is truth in this movie. It's in the guise of a gaudily wrapped gift, but when you open it up, you won't find anything nearly as cheesy as this metaphor.