Marley and Me

On our recent trip to the lake in Brainerd, Minnesota, Stephanie and I put our feet up and watched this movie. Great movies are often times described as being greater than the sum of their parts. To me, this movie had great parts that did not add up to a great sum. It follows the adventures of a newspaper columnist and his wife as they move to Florida and begin their newlywed life together. Along the way, they adopt an incorrigible Labrador and begin their family. The movie follows the life of the dog as this couple adjusts to the enormous challenges of raising children on one income. Unfortunately, it lacks direction and feels more like a slide show than a movie.

The movie has a lot going for it. Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston are both very good in their roles. Alan Arkin is hilarious as Owen Wilson's boss. The dog is cute. The kids are cute. And the depiction of adjusting to the grind of being a parent does indeed have some familiarity. What the movie seemed to be missing is a coherent narrative. In fact, it seemed like a group of newspaper columns, which I suppose it was. It seemed a bit disjointed, even though many moments rang true. I think it could have used some greater cohesion and it would have made it more unified. As it stands, the movie is not a deep movie. It doesn't need to be. But sometimes, movie masterpieces need not be deep at all, just done with cohesion (think "Airplane"). Here, by the time we get to the end of the movie, the dog seems to be the story again, just like he was at the beginning. The only problem is, the dog sat on the sidelines for the middle of the movie.

It is hard to pick this movie apart too much. It is out to warm the heart, not change the world. But I think my heart would have been warmer if there had been a story I was more involved in.