Dir. David Frankel, US, 2008, 111 mins
Cast: Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston, Eric Dane, Alan Arkin, Kathleen Turner
Review by Jean Lynch
Back in 2005, an American newspaper columnist, name of John Grogan, saw what began as a reluctant weekly piece about his pet Labrador, Marley – ‘The World's Worst Dog' – turn into a publishing phenomenon, with his bestseller shifting copies far faster than Marley could probably eat them and, believe me, that's saying something if his screen counterpart is anything to go by.
Grogan (Wilson) is the ‘Me' of the title, a cub reporter newly-married to fellow journalist Jennifer (Aniston). Eschewing the snow-laden winters of Michigan , they head off to sunny Florida where Grogan's glittering career in journalism begins with a misspelled byline and more than a few choice cuts. Married life, however, is great and Grogan thinks he's not quite ready yet for the patter of two tiny feet and nips in the bud any baby talk with the patter of four not so tiny feet instead.
Marley – so named because he seems to like the Bob Marley song on the car's cassette – is the runt of the litter. Jen falls in love with him on the spot. Unfortunately, Marley isn't a bargain basement puppy for nothing – he trashes the garage, eats dry stone walls, escapes from moving cars and has a taste for expensive jewellery, retrieved courtesy of some laxatives from the nice vet. All attempts at training fail miserably, with the great hound being thrown out of dog school, and even the snip fails to calm the boy down. And they thought kids would be a handful? Despite all this, the Grogans love their naughty baby and so, it seems, do the public. When forced by his editor (Arkin) to write a column, Grogan – after much head-scratching – settles on the subject he knows best: Marley and Me. The newspaper has a hit on its hands and Grogan goes from hapless hack to employee of the month, despite his constant protestations that he's a reporter and not a columnist.
The story is handled remarkably well, given that Marley's canine antics are prime source material for a comedy along the lines of Beethoven, K-9 or Turner and Hooch. The humour is natural and uncontrived, and if you do think Marley's meanderings are OTT, take it from a fellow Lab owner, they're not! But what this film is really about is the story of a relationship, of a young couple who marry and grow together, facing their ups and downs, and the ensuing years as, inevitably, one child comes along, then another, and another. Marley is the constant presence, a reference point to mark their journey – life happens around him but he remains the ever-faithful loving and loyal (and naughty) dog. Wilson and Aniston make a very believable couple, and both have terrific and subtle comedic timing, plus the likeability factor. Arkin, as newspaper editor Archie Klein, is the gruff guy who really does know best, a role he appears to be excelling in of late and does so again here.
But the star of the show is Marley. It's probably not too much a stretch of the imagination to guess how this film ends and I defy any grown woman or man not to shed a tear. That Grogan should write what is effectively his love song to ‘The World's Worst Dog' is testament to unconditional love, and rest assured, in the end Marley knew that he was a ‘good dog'.
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