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Marley & Me (2008)

Director: David Frankel

Time Out rating

Average user rating

108 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

With its child-friendly rating and top billing for an unruly golden Labrador, ‘Marley & Me’ leads one to expect a straightforward saga of man’s best friend. But this film is a more complicated animal. Although it hardly stints on Marley’s mischief-making appetite for frolicking naughtiness and chomping on just about anything he can get between his incisors, it’s mostly a bittersweet portrait of a couple settling down to family life and feeling like they’ve sold out on their youthful ambitions.

Owen Wilson (carrying his own baggage of off-screen melancholia) plays the real-life Miami journo whose series of popular columns on life with a four-legged miscreant got the ball rolling. Meanwhile, Jennifer Aniston is a sympathetic match as the reporter girlfriend-turned-spouse who leaves work to raise their kids after juggling both proves a nightmare.

With its peachy star casting and impeccably art-directed lifestyles, the latest from ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ director David Frankel is too glossy to cut very deep, but there’s a core of truth as we see a family coming to shape itself around the loveable pooch they initially bought as a child substitute, all the while squaring up career sacrifices against the restorative recompense of domesticity.

Marley himself (played by 22 different dogs, don’t you know!) frequently takes a back seat when work and childcare issues dominate the proceedings, but he looms large in a final reel that draws tears, and feels like it’s earned them. Evidently contrived and something of an ungainly hybrid, the film shares its canine protagonist’s facility for wearing down your resistance.

Author: Trevor Johnston 2009-03-10 10:30:28

Time Out London issue 2012, Mar 12-18 2009

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User reviews of this film

anisha said...

Posted on Mar 27 2009 18:02 i havent seen the film but all my friend say it is is realy good but it is sad when the dog dies. by the way this is based on a true event though they have just got a new dog !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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anisha said...

Posted on Mar 27 2009 17:58 i havent seen the film but all my friend say it is is realy good but it is ad when the dog dies. by the way this is a true film event though they have just got a new dog

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kak said...

Posted on Mar 27 2009 14:41 hav,nt seen the film but thanks to every1 for tellin us the dog dies !!!!

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Sam said...

Posted on Mar 27 2009 13:47 I thought this was going to be a film suitable for my children, 3 and 9, but I think some of the themes were too adult in the sense that they wouldn't have understood it. Sad when the dog dies

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Kate said...

Posted on Mar 26 2009 20:56 Get dog, have kids, dog dies. Such a boring film and the lead actors have no energy between them. Yes it's sad when the dog dies, but it is badly done. Most interesting bit was seeing Kathleen Turner as she is now.

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the truth said...

Posted on Mar 26 2009 19:17 whoever said it is discraceful they said the word bast*** in the 4th indiana jones movie they said bull**** and if its a PG i think they know what THEIR TALKING ABOUT

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Jenny said...

Posted on Mar 26 2009 13:18 Awful and not suitable for children.

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Victoria said...

Posted on Mar 26 2009 10:32 A lovely film… Yes, I was quite teary in the end but it’s a nice story. The people feeling “depressed” after watching the movie are obvious pessimists, incapable of seeing the good things in life and the children feeling “devastated”, need to learn about the joys of life and the sadness of death sooner or later.
Don’t listen to the moany-moanersons. It’s funny, heart warming and I’m still thinking about it the morning after.

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crystal clear said...

Posted on Mar 25 2009 20:16 are there realy sex scenes as in human sex because if there is i am kind of going off the idea of seeing.

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BIG BOY said...

Posted on Mar 25 2009 13:49 Derek - I am so glad that this film has rendered you indoors. You don't deserve to be let out in public. This is a wonderful film with real human emotions on display. I am not even a dog lover - but I wept like a baby puppy. How dare you try to put people off seeing this film. HOW VERY DARE YOU!

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Sarah said...

Posted on Mar 25 2009 11:36 I enjoyed the film. It was very much reality based, which i didnt expect. But what I enjoyed is the message that things gets better and family life is up and down. I loved the fact that they get through the unexpected and push through to have a happy family.Shows a bit of perseverance...

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billy bob said...

Posted on Mar 24 2009 19:17 i agree with sammy the book is amazing!

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Loz said...

Posted on Mar 24 2009 16:57 Really good :), very funny and had a really good ending even though the dog died but wasnt expected unless you've read the book. The whole cinema was crying but it was the best film i've seen in ages =]

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Dollykp said...

Posted on Mar 24 2009 13:00 I read the book- LOVE IT!!! was worried the film wouldnt live up to the book- but its a simple story many many families go thru- Im a big dog lover and as i read the book i knew all along what was gonna happen- I cried like a child- its so so so so sad- i had to keep telling myself- its just acting its just acting! But really they played the booked very well! I cant wait for the DVD!!
Number 1 in uk again! speaks for its self!

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sponge monkey said...

Posted on Mar 23 2009 20:23 horrendous. depressing. made me feel like sh*t for a week after, if you hate your kids job spouse and pets go and see it you may relate to it

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