Marley & Me 3 Disc Bad Dog Edition
Everyday life and the joys of a dog become continuous escapades with Marley in the hit film Marley & Me based on the book by John Grogan.
Film making 18/25
Cinematography 18/25
Audio 17/25
Bonus Features 18/25
Total 71/100
Marley & Me stars Jennifer Aniston, Owen Wilson and twenty two different yellow labs as Marley about a family who lives life to the fullest with the world’s worst dog. Marley & Me follows the exploits of a lovable but high strung yellow Labrador named Marley and the family who unfortunately has to deal with him.
John and Jenny Grogan move from Michigan to sunny Florida and when his friend starts warning about the possibility of child rearing John brushes him off for the moment. When Jenny starts hinting about wanting a child John decides to buy a dog to fill the void but he gets more than they bargained for in the little runt of the litter with Marley.
John and Jenny are both reporters but Jenny is the front page news writer of one paper and John has been relegated to obituaries and small stories until he finds his niche in column writing. Jenny is quite happy with her job writing front page stories while John is stumped about what to highlight in his column till he takes a good look at all the events that Marley creates.
Marley is taken to dog obedience classes where he immediately gets kicked out to become the first dog the teacher has ever found to be un trainable. Marley eats constantly, chews everything including the walls and couch, cannot be leashed without dragging either John or Jenny for a run and is generally a highly energetic dog.
Marley does have a weak spot in thunderstorms as the dog sitter can attest to when they con her into watching the dog and rush out of the house on a belated honeymoon. When they arrive back from their trip the house is a shambles and the dog sitter is rather upset that they left her in such a hurry but given Marley’s behavior they were lucky.
The movie follows the family as they have three children who all love the dog even though he is a huge nuisance and Jenny ends up quitting her job to become a stay at home mom. John’s column has become a big hit with his everyday escapades of Marley and everyone recognizes him when he is out with the dog.
When they end up moving to Pennsylvania and getting a large home in the country Marley is now getting old and showing his real age. Soon life comes to an inevitable end and the family has to deal with the loss of a loved one who was such a loving dog with a few quirks.
Marley & Me is a great film but missing that special comedy and drama to bring the film above a great animal tale or family film. The movie will appeal to families looking for a laughable look at everyday life with a dog as the center of attention.
With some good performances by both Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson the film does a good job of showing everyday life as well as how we can have things that just falls into place for us when we least expect it. John wanted so very much to be a headline reporter only to have column writing fall into his lap and then to have Marley with all his column material brought into his life as well is great.
Other parts of the film show the everyday life of a typical family and how Marley just adds to the fun and excitement that would otherwise be a too typical family. The film shows a great need for understanding and compassion when owning a dog of any breed or disposition but especially when the dog is so rambunctious.
Marley & Me 3 Disc Bad Dog Edition is the Blu-ray 3 disc edition that includes the Blu-ray movie, a DVD and digital copy of the film. The digital copy only has the film and the DVD copy has deleted scenes, a gag reel and trailers while the Blu-ray has most of the great stuff.
The Blu-ray copy has the film in its glorious high definition and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound along with the deleted scenes, gag reel, audio commentary, a making of and several featurettes. The making of featurettes are all great with that lovable yellow lab doing what they all love to do, be themselves.
Marley was filmed using 22 different dogs due to the film following the life span of 14 years and three features talk about the dog actors and using them in films. Another feature talks about one of the scenes that was a spontaneous addition to the film due to an actor dog accidentally peeing.
The Dog Training Trivia Track is a picture in picture addition that talks about the various training used for each trick or behavior the dogs used in the filming when they occur. The animal adoption feature shows the need for people to adopt pets as opposed to getting them from breeders to help the over abundance of pets available from adoption agencies and shelters.
Marley & Me is a fun look at the everyday life of a dog and his owners who just happen to have a seriously over rambunctious but totally lovable dog that adds so much to a family. Marley shows that even though a dog can be incorrigible or high strung they can be lovable and an important part of a family.
Marley & Me Blu-ray 3 Disc Bad Dog Edition is a great film and well worth the cost with the additional features and the three copies of the film.