Marley & Me
January 15th 2009 02:41
For 12 years I wasn't much of a dog person. Or at least, I told myself I wasn't much of a dog person. As a child I always had a dog. Shelly was my first, who my dad accidentally ran over, then came Sooty who was my childhood best friend and died of a tick when I was 12, then we got Bobby a psycho Jack Russell who we had to give away when we moved interstate. After that, we never lived in a place where we could get another dog and so, I stopped being a dog person.
I wasn't interested in books or movies about dogs, talking or real or even animated. I rolled my eyes at people who talked to their dogs like they were people and I got annoyed at people when I visited them and their dogs jumped all over me. Then, in May last year, Jack the West Highland White Terrier was born and I was all of a sudden a dog person again. Jack came home with us in June and while he's only been in our lives for eight months, I can hardly imagine life without him. He carries on like an idiot when any of us get home, but it's nice for someone to get excited every day, just because you've come home from work. He has particular toys that he plays with particular people in the house with, and none of us can resist when he looks at us with his big dark eyes.
Jack and his favourite toy
How does this related to Marley and Me? Well, I probably never would have gone to see it if it wasn't for Jack. I went on a girls day with my mother and my sister who, like me, weren't dog people until they met Jack.
I wasn't really sure what to expect. Normally if there's a book version of something and a movie version, I'll insist on reading the book first. But in this case I didn't have time. So after talking to a friend about it, I went promising to read the book because she said it was much better than the film.
So for those of you who haven't seen it yet, here's the lowdown. John Grogan is a journalist married to another journalist, Jenny. The movie starts on their wedding night, the two of them having a conversation about Jenny's list of things she wants to achieve in her life. Step one: get married, step two: move somewhere warm... once they've achieved some of these steps, John begins to suspect that the next one involves kids, something he's not ready for yet. So he arranges for them to get Marley, a labrador puppy.
Marley is the worst dog in the world. He's big, he eats everything, he can chew through dry-wall. John and Jenny go away and Marley terrorises the housesitter. He runs away, he eats mangoes, he gets kicked out of puppy pre-school. You get the picture.
From then on the movie advances through the Grogan's lives. It's a fairly typical this is what happens when you get married and have kids kinda story, but the presence of Marley makes it all the more interesting. It's a good character journey for all of them, we see them grow and change as they age and of course, there's Marley. I enjoyed the film and found it mostly very light hearted and entertaining. But don't let the sunny, fun start to the movie fool you, if you have a heart, especially one for dogs, then you will need tissues. I also had to go straight home for a hug with my own crazy puppy.
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Comment by katyzzz
Photography Tips
MS Paint Art
I can' wait to see the movie, I should get there soon.
Comment by Mickey
Hope you like the movie too!
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
I liked this film too, it's much grittier than it looks. I blubbered like a buffoon in parts.