"Marley & Me" by David Frankel: a review

Marley and Me was released on December 25th 2008. The movie was nominated for three awards of which it won two; BMI Film Music Award and Teen Choice Award. Some of the main cast are: Owen Wilson (John Grogan), Jennifer Aniston (Jennifer Grogan), Eric Bane (Sebastian Tunney) and Kathleen Turner (Ms. Kornblut).

John and Jenny Grogan, a newly wed couple and both reporters for rival newspapers, move from Michigan to southern Florida. John gets the feeling that Jenny wants to start a family and so his friend and colleague Sebastian, suggest that they adopt a dog with a view to making them realize whether or not they were both ready to start a family. John and Jenny ultimately choose Marley (so named after the legendary Bob Marley), a tiny yellow Labrador retriever who made it perfectly clear that he was incapable of being corrected from the outset. Ms. Kornblut is a dog trainer and the Grogan’s leave the dog with her, but after repeatedly choosing to ignore her commands, she expels him from her class.

At work, John is offered a bi-weekly column in which he can talk about the fun and trivia that everyday life can bring, and although he struggles for ideas at first, he soon realizes that he could talk about the tales of Marley and ran it by the Editor (Arnie Klein) who agrees. Marley continues with his antics and provides John with an endless stream of material for his newspaper column which really grabs the readers’ attention and ultimately does wonders for the newspaper’s reputation.

Meanwhile, Jenny discovers that she is pregnant but loses the baby early in the pregnancy. John and Jenny decide to go on a belated honeymoon to Ireland, leaving Marley in the hands of a young woman who finds the dog incontrollable, particularly during the thunderstorms. Shortly after the couple return from Ireland, Jenny discovers that she is pregnant and goes on to give birth to a son named Patrick.

He is soon followed by another boy, Connor and Jenny decides to give up work and stay at home full time with her children. Needing more space, the family move to a larger home in Boca Raton. A daughter, Colleen, is soon welcomed to the family and this is when the onset of Jenny’s post natal depression began. Jenny denies her illness at first and takes her emotions out on John and Marley. John asks Sebastian to care for Marley when Jenny makes it clear that they should give him away, but she soon realizes that Marley is a part of their family and she gives in and says that he can stay.

John was growing tired of his job and when he reached 40 years old eating food from healthy cookbooks, decided that it was time for a change. With his wife’s blessing, he accepted a post with the Philadelphia Inquirer and the family moved to Pennsylvania. Life seems to be the best it has been in a long time for the family until the signs of aging become evident in Marley.

First he is struck with arthritis and deafness learning the alphabet, followed by a gastric dilation volvulus that nearly takes his life but he makes a full recovery with health food recipes. Unfortunately, Marley experiences a second attack and there is nothing more that can be done for him. Marley is put to sleep with John by his side and the family bury their beloved Marley beneath a tree in their front garden.