Marley and Me
The Ups and Downs of a
Growing Family
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 at competing local newspapers, 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. "There's nothing to
it," says Sebastian. "You walk 'em. You feed 'em, you let 'em out now
and then."
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. Even a newly-purchased, expensive necklace isn't
safe from Marley's voracious antics.
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.
Cast
and Credits
Cast: Owen Wilson, Jennifer
Aniston, Alan Arkin, Eric Dane
Director: David Frankel
Producer: Gil Netter
Rated: PG