Marley & Me (2008)

Opened December 25, 2008

• Runtime: 2 hours, 3 minutes
• Genres: Animal Picture, Comedy, Drama, Adaptation, Biopic
• MPAA Rating: PG for thematic material, some suggestive content and language
• Cast: Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston, Eric Dane, Kathleen Turner, Alan Arkin
• Director: David Frankel
• Screenwriters: Scott Frank, Don Roos
• Producer: Karen Rosenfelt, Gil Netter
• Composer: Theodore Shapiro
• Studio: 20th Century Fox

Synopses:

• The Grogans adopt the cute, twelve pound yellow Labrador, who in no time at all, grows into a 100-pound steamroller of unbridled energy that turns the Grogan home into a disaster area.
• An ambitious young reporter, John Grogan, and his wife, Jenny, also a reporter, move to a Florida, buy a house and adopt a Labrador puppy they name Marley. Marley quickly becomes a rollicking force of nature in their lives.

The official website for Marley & Me has multiple categories to look through including about the film, a photo album, home movies and chew toys. You can join Marley on the campaign for adoption awareness or adopt a virtual Marley.

Click on the following links for more resources and information on the movie as well as reviews: Wikipedia, John Grogan's official website, Internet movie databata (imdb), Yahoo! movies, Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon, Google, NY Times, Houston Chronicle, USA Today, Roger Ebert, Fandango, Moviefone, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide

Trivia:

• There were 22 different dogs used in the movie, all playing the one main dog.
• Owen Wilson's real parents played his parents in the movie. His mom's biggest problem was remembering not to call him Owen.
• Kathleen Turner, who played Marley's dog trainer, starred with Jennifer Aniston on "Friends" (1994) as Chandler Bing's cross-dressing father Charles.
• During the surprise birthday party scene you can see former Miami Herald columnist Dave Barry standing on the right of the shot smiling.
• Beach scenes apparently set in Briny Breezes, an area nicknamed "Dog Beach" by locals for its friendliness to the canine set. Palm Beach County Commissioners banned dogs from the beach, for reasons self-evident in the last beach scene.
• The "Sun-Sentinel" and "Philadelphia Inquirer" office scenes were filmed on location.

Reel Thoughts entertainment rating: 4/5
Reel Thoughts award-worthy rating: 2.5/5