As the snow falls on their wedding night, newlyweds John and Jenny Grogan (Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston) decide to leave behind the harsh winters of Michigan and head south to begin their new lives in West Palm Beach, Florida. They obtain jobs as journalists, buy their first home, and begin to make their way through the challenges of a new marriage, new careers and, possibly, the life-changing decision to start a family. Unsure of his preparedness for raising children, John confesses his fears to his friend and fellow journalist Sebastian, who comes up with the perfect solution: John should get Jenny a puppy. Then came Marley. 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. He flunks obedience school, chews off dry-wall, takes a bite out of the sofa, overturns garbage cans, steals a Thanksgiving turkey, consumes pillows and flowers, drinks toilet water, and chases the UPS guy. Amidst the mayhem he generates through the years, Marley sees the Grogans through the ups and downs of family life, through job and home changes, and most of all, through the myriad challenges of a growing family. As John and Jenny come to realize, Marley - "the world's worst dog" - somehow brings out the best in them.I put off reviewing this movie for 4 days after seeing it in theaters because I didn't want to get all choked up again. I really don't care about spoiling this one because I really think that it NEEDS to be spoiled because nobody should walk blindly in to an oncoming mack truck. SPOILER ALERT - Marley dies. I knew this going in and the movie was still devastating. I can only imagine families going to see this and having no clue. That would have to blow Bambi's mother dying right out of the water. Not only does the dog die, but the goodbyes take about 20 minutes and if you don't get teared up (or openly cry like I did - I am man enough to admit this!) you do not have a heart in your chest. This movie is an absolute must see for any pet lovers. I have a cat that I consider to be like my son and I never thought I could love him more than I already did but this movie actually made that happen. All I wanted to do was race home after it was over and chill out with the J man. Putting animal loving aside, the movie was a great heartwarming story of how families grow. The only knock I can make against it is that I could have done without the extra 20 minutes of career angst with Owen Wilson. I found myself really not caring at all whether he should be a reporter or a columnist and shaving that out would have brought this movie down to the perfect running time of an hour and 40 minutes instead of the two hours.
I strongly recommend that everyone check this movie out. Especially if you are a pet lover. Just know that its going to put your heart in a vice and crush it and make sure the kids know beforehand. I took Stinka and two of her friends and they were fine since I told them. However, I still had quivering lip/ugly face cry going on even though I did.
