John Grogan(Owen Wilson), in an attempt to distract his wife Jenny (Jennifer Aniston) from her maternal desires, gets her an energetic puppy called Marley. However the plan goes awry as Marley is, as described by his owner, ‘The World’s Worst Dog’. Causing chaos and destruction, John and Jenny’s life will never be the same again.
Marley & Me may seem like another ‘man and dog’ slapstick comedy on the surface, but it is so much more than that. It’s a view of one couples relationship throughout the life of said dog. We see the couple argue, have children, change jobs, all within the life of a dog that does, indeed, cause inordinate amounts of chaos.

Whilst this is a reasonably original look at the life of the relationship, it lacks a certain amount of suspense or direction. The couple are married and talking about children right from the start of the movie. The arguments they have don’t seem bad enough to threaten the relationship and no one has an affair or even shows any sign of possibly straying. As such, the focus of the film lies squarely on the dog.

Marley’s destructive ways are amusing to begin with, but soon tire you. There are only so many ways in which a dog can destroy a house or escapes down the street and the comedy that comes from these sequences soon becomes predictable and a little boring.

Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston do appear to be trying, but the material is quite flimsy. They also fail to show any chemistry together and as such their relationship has limited believability.

Yes, the film has its moments. It can be funny and at times surprisingly touching. However, it also feels somewhat empty. Enjoyable enough, but not really anything you can get your teeth into.