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Marley & Me

Owen Wilson, Jennifer Anniston

I think it had something to do with [Marley’s] guileless heart and over-the-top zest for life. Just as he was incapable of putting the brakes on his behavior, he had no bounds on his affection and loyalty, either. Not necessarily a bad thing. – John Grogan

Coming home from the preview of Marley & Me, after stopping off with some friends at a local tavern, the barmaid I am dating [Trevor is dating???] heads to the backyard for a smoke. Waiting for her is my white boxer puppy, Layla. Never have I met a person who hates an animal more and vice-versa. Well, I am not really sure if the puppy hates her, more like views her as a form of entertainment which to pester and antagonize. In the dark, I can see the glow of a cigarette waving back and forth and a white streak springing back and forth in front of the young woman. Through the profanity, I can make out something about how the dog needs to start listening to her. There is no little problem, the puppy is stone-cold deaf. She cannot hear a thing. Some things start out as a joke, something you find humorous, and I had failed to mention that Layla cannot hear. At first it was just an oversight, then came an incident here and an incident there. “Your DOG is not listening to me. I told her to move and she just laid there.” “I bet the reason your DOG bangs against that gate is she loves the noise it makes.” “Your DOG is sure a sound sleeper. She didn’t even move when I dropped the plate.” “Your DOG is too stupid to move when I am trying to vacuum. She just lies there.” “I told your DOG to stop chewing on my shoes and she acted like I was not even in the room.”

Now what starts out funny, as the days pass, can get serious, cruel actually. There have been long conversations in the car where she has berated the dog for being retarded, how I am too easygoing with the pooch and need to start yelling at it. Now I would have thought that she would have noticed that I am always using hand signals with Layla. Went right by her. Maybe that the older dog, Gibb, when I yell at them to come in from the backyard or bring food out for them to eat, if Layla is sleeping, will go over to where she is sleeping and gently lick her face until she awakes. How the older dog is overly protective of his little buddy when it comes to noises. She missed that. The fact that the puppy, when not chewing on something or sleeping, is always staring, still as a rock, staring, went right over her head. There where the hints (and giggles), from my friends and hers, that have been plopped down into the middle of conversations as subtly as a barbeque at a vegan picnic. Still, as I watch the puppy run up to her, piddle, and gleefully rocket away as she screams something about the dog having Downs syndrome, I really think that some people are never going to figure some things out.

Between 35 and 68 million Americans own a dog, which works out to roughly 61.5 million pooches. In other words, about one in six people in this country own a canine. (It is estimated that 73 million own cats.) Journalist John Grogan is one of them. His American Labrador Retriever was named Marley after the reggae singer Bob Marley. This 97-pound bundle of energy was a great source of material for his column and ultimately three books. Marley came into John’s life as a puppy soon after the writer married Jenny. Roughly 50 percent of our four-legged friends find themselves heading for new digs because almost every instinct a puppy has makes them almost impossible to live with. They love to chew on furniture, clothes, and other household objects. Strong smells are their friends, accidents commonplace, digging a must, and their energy outpaces any common sense. If an owner is lucky, some, but not all, of these habits will be broken in time. Then there are dogs like Marley. Grogan describes Marley as, “He crashed through screen doors, gouged into drywall, flung drool on guests, stole women's undergarments, and ate nearly everything he could get his mouth around, including couches and fine jewelry. Obedience expelled his first time through. Marley even seemed impervious to tranquilizers the veterinarian prescribed for him with the admonishment, ‘Don't hesitate to use these.’" Marley was also uncontrollably afraid of thunderstorms and tended to be extremely difficult on a leash. This excitable, powerful, eating machine seemed so out of control at times that it was suggested that Marley might be mentally ill.

Non-dog owners and really uptight people are probably asking themselves, why would you put up with such a beast? As one of my friends told me when I was telling a story of some antic one of my dogs had done, “If I owned the thing, it would be on a one-way drive to sleepy juice-ville.”

The answer for anyone who has loved a dog is easy. They become a part of your life. When you walk in the front door, no matter how bad your day has gone, they are excited to see you. Dogs have a joy that is just enduring. As Grogan states, "And yet, his heart was pure. Just as Marley joyfully refused any limits on his behavior, his love and loyalty were boundless, too. He shared the couple's joy at first pregnancy, and their heartbreak over miscarriage. He was there when babies finally arrived and when the screams of a 17-year-old stabbing victim pierced the night. Marley played a role in shutting down a public beach and managed to land a role in a feature-length movie (though it went straight to video), always winning hearts as he made a mess of things. Through it all, he remained steadfast, a model of devotion, even when his family was at wits' end. Unconditional love, they would learn, comes in many forms." Marley was there during the big events of the young couple’s life – the pregnancies, the birth of their three children, the moving from Boca Raton to their new home in Pennsylvania, a companion for the children, and the big celebration that come in a new marriage. The dog was also a comforting presence during the tragedies that sometimes arise in life. He would not leave his mistress’s side after a miscarriage and protected his owner from a possible assault. That is not to say that there were not times where Marley’s behavior was so bad that there were serious conversations about finding a new home for the rambunctious Lab, especially when Jenny was suffering from postpartum depression. Marley lived 13 years with his beloved family until he had to be put to sleep after a long battle with bloat and old age. John, who was with his best friend, when the dog slipped away told the canine something he had never told him before, “You are a great dog.”

If you have not read John Grogan’s book, if you have ever had a dog, it is one of the funniest, uplifting, and entertaining reads turned out in the last few years. (If you have a child, Marley: A Dog Like No Other or Bad Dog, Marley are perfect for them. It tells the same story as Marley & Me minus the adult situations.) Still, I was surprised when I discovered that it was going to be turned a feature-length film starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. Now John and Jen Grogan look like a lot of people but Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston are not two of them.

Movies are meant to take you away, give you a few moments of enjoyment before you return to the daily grind. That is the purpose of movies and sometimes, much like the young woman in my backyard yelling at a deaf dog, it is something critics do not get. Is Marley & Me fun? Yes. It is entertaining and has a lot of humor that dog owners will identify with. Will critics enjoy it? Probably not. They will see it as just another dumb holiday flick. Sometimes you need to pay attention to what is right in front of you, enjoy it, and not be deaf to what is going on. Marley & Me is not a cure for cancer, it is not even as good as the book, but it will put a smile on your face if you give it a chance.

Verdict: A Entertaining Hollywood Film