Happy canine family drama
By Rama Gaind
A misbehaving, though lovable dog, forms the crux of a family drama in ‘Marley and Me’ which is based on John Grogan’s 2005 best-selling memoir about his Labrador retriever.
Owen Wilson is John Grogan, a frustrated reporter, but successful columnist, who together with his journalist wife Jennifer (played by Jennifer Aniston) live a happy, comfortable life immersed in the love of their canine Marley.
Now this is one big, exuberant canine with a voracious appetite and a behaviour pattern that wreaks havoc in his wake.
When Marley is not on screen, both Wilson and Aniston display refreshing comic capabilities. They play a resourceful couple who admirably juggle their life, work and three children.
Surprisingly poignant, director David Frankel proves us with a smartly realistic story that’s not too sentimental.
Above all, it believable.
