The newlywed couple John and Jenny Grogan (each played by Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston), moved from Michigan to West Palm Beach, Florida. They are both journalists in a local newspaper.
A number of plans were in their minds: moving from a cold city to a Florida area offering warm sun. John seriously worked his way up as a daily reporter at Sun-Sentinel while Jenny was a feature writer in the New Beach Post newspaper. Then they buy a house, and plan to have children. But before children are born, they adopt dogs so that the instincts of caring for living things are honed.
Finally, they bought a labrador puppy for US $ 275 (the female is more expensive at US $ 25) on a farm. Labrador male dog named after Marley, taken from the name of reggae legend Bob Marley.
Marley initially looked like an adorable puppy. But it didn’t take long for them to finally realize that their dog had a big appetite, was hyperactive, liked to rummage and chew on the sofa. Almost anything that can be chewed will not be separated from its bite, including Jenny’s underwear, bed pillows, and even once swallowed the John chain necklace for Jenny.
Even Marley was expelled from a dog training school in just a matter of hours. Marley who is fond of mangoes is only afraid of lightning. If it rains with lightning, then Marley does not stop howling at the same time hiding to the employer. Games Online dan Offline
But this storyline isn’t like animal-themed films like Beethoven, MPX or Rin Tin Tin. Not a hero character to help an employer like most children’s films.
That’s why film Marley & Me is more appropriate for the Teen or Adult audience, because the plot of the drama (and some comedy parts that are more properly digested by big people) tells Marley as part of Grogan family life.
With her tiring style, Marley is still loved by Jenny and John. Marley also behaves like a loyal dog, who joins when Jenny cries when her pregnancy fails. Restless when Jenny began to feel the opening signs of childbirth. But it also causes anger when the birth of the first child followed by a second pregnancy.
Marley witnesses the life of the Grogan family to the presence of Colleen’s third child as well as the family’s only daughter. There is a part when the dream is defeated by the reality of life. John, who became a permanent columnist for a raise in salary and work security. This is all for the sake of improving family life, such as buying a new house with a swimming pool in an area that is more elite and safer for raising children. There is also a sense of jealousy of his colleague, Sebastian who is still single (at first glance like Leonardo diCaprio) who successfully increased his career to move to become a New York Times reporter.
It’s just that, sometimes there are parts that are lacking in being appointed director / screenwriter. So it feels like a piece of an easy solution. (I personally have not read the book which has been translated in the Indonesian version … hmm so curious to read and honestly after watching, I had a chance to hunt for the book at Gramedia Plaza Semanggi but unfortunately it was not found). Perhaps this is because the screenwriter wants to condense the story from a book written by John who is now a Philadelphia Inquirer columnist.
Previously an article about Marley was part of John’s daily writing in the Sun-Sentinel newspaper.
Oh one more drawback. Throughout the film we witnessed the growth of Marley from a child into a big dog. But it seems there is no change in appearance to John and Jenny from newlywed couples to parents of three children. Overall an interesting movie to watch, a light storyline, though sad at the end because Marley died.