Marley & Me

Genre: Drama
Language: English
Director: David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada)
Cast: Owen Wilson (You, Me and Dupree), Jennifer Aniston (He's Just Not That Into You)
Runtime: 115 min

Plot:

As the snow falls on their wedding night, newlyweds John (Owen WIlson) and Jenny Grogan (Jennifer Aniston) decide to leave behind the harsh winters of Michigan and head south to begin their new lives in West Palm Beach, Florida. They obtain jobs as journalists at competing local newspapers, buy their first home, and begin to make their way through the challenges of a new marriage, new careers and, possibly, the life-changing decision to start a family. However, being unsure of his readiness for raising children, John confesses his fears to his friend and fellow journalist Sebastian (Eric Dane), who comes up with the perfect solution: Get Jenny a puppy. Then came Marley.

Watched the movie on 27 Feb night @ GV Vivo with Sylvia.

Initially, when the preview came out months ago, I wasn't interested in watching the movie at all, thinking I should stop watching Owen Wilson's crap movie. But I was drawn back after I watched an interview of both the actors on the Oprah Show week ago and I told myself, I should give this movie a chance!

After watching the movie, I was glad I did not give this movie a miss. Somehow, almost all dog movies I watched. I will end up crying, and this movie is no exception. But before those tears, there were lots of warm, fun moments as the movie really brings out the message of managing family and relationships. And the dogs are really awesome to be able to deliver such good performances!

Coincidentally, I was chatting to Julia earlier about her dog that died few weeks ago. And when I watched how Marley slowly grew old, I felt for Julia's dog. We agreed that all dogs have the bonding with their master. They are part of the family, in fact, they are one of the member. That's why there is a bond between the animal and human.

I was surprised with both Owen Wilson & Jennifer Aniston's performance for this movie. The comedy essence was just nice, not too much or too less. I like the fact that the movie focused a lot on family. The part whereby Jennifer decided to quit her job and to fully take care of their children, reminded of my close friend - Grace. I believe the motherhood message that Jennifer was portraying was the same as Grace, especially the part when she said about when she was at work, she thought of her children at home and couldn't concentrate on her work.

ah-deng says: 4/5 Warm-hearted family oriented movie. Dog lovers must watch!