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Review: Marley & Me

Banal entertainment
By BRETT MICHEL  |  December 23, 2008
2.0 2.0 Stars


VIDEO: The trailer for Marley & Me

Will Jennifer Aniston ever get a good film role?

Here she's in David Frankel's follow-up to The Devil Wears Prada — a movie with no shortage of plum parts for women, Meryl Streep's Oscar-nominated turn among them — playing second fiddle to a dog. And don't think for a second that the "Me" in the title refers to Aniston's Jen Grogan. That distinction falls to Owen Wilson, who's at his lackadaisical best as John Grogan, a newspaper columnist whose 2005 memoir, subtitled Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog, served as this film's loose blueprint.

Some two dozen dogs hump, poop, and — yes — chew the scenery as Marley, a yellow Lab purchased on the cheap by the newlyweds because they aren't ready to start a family. Unfortunately, the "clearance puppy" takes a back seat (when he's not jumping out of it into traffic) to life's banalities-as-entertainment. But it's a bloated Kathleen Turner who's truly gone to the dogs, bearing the brunt of the humping Marley.

Related: Review: Management, Review: He's Just Not That Into You, Review: Love Happens, More more >
  Topics: Reviews , Celebrity News, Entertainment, Movie Stars,  More more >
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ARTICLES BY BRETT MICHEL
Share this entry with Delicious
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    Have you walked near a college campus lately? You might notice that the ’80s are creeping into fashion, the way the ’70s did a few years back, and with the same lack of irony. It’s happening in cinemas, too — something that’s not entirely unwelcome when it comes to the horror genre.
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  •   INTERVIEW: GABOUREY SIDIBE  |  November 18, 2009
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  •   REVIEW: MICHAEL JACKSON'S THIS IS IT  |  November 12, 2009
    The Star Wars –style titles that begin Kenny Ortega’s hastily assembled Michael Jackson tribute documentary explain that the film has been whittled down from 100 hours of behind-the-scenes video shot between last April and June during rehearsals for the King of Pop’s planned 50-date “This Is It” London concert series.
  •   INTERVIEW: LONE SCHERFIG  |  November 16, 2009
    Born in Denmark in 1959, Lone Scherfig first gained international attention in 2000 with Italian for Beginners, a charming little film that won her the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. A couple of years later, she followed up with Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself, her first English-language effort, filmed in Scotland and starring Adrian Rawlins and Shirley Henderson.

 See all articles by: BRETT MICHEL

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