Marley & Me

This was possibly the best movie I have seen in theaters all year. By the end of the movie the theater was silent except for the occasional sniffle of someone crying in the audience. The trailer wasn't lying when it made the statements that you would laugh and cry because indeed anyone with a heart and a good sense of humor will laugh and cry.

Plot: You follow the lives of John and Jennifer Grogan starting at their wedding (before Marley the dog is even born) when they are both starting reporters living in Florida. John takes Jennifer to pick out a puppy as an early birthday present because to distract her from wanting to have kids so soon. They ask the price of the puppies and learn that the puppy that Jennifer is holding is $100 cheeper than the rest earning him the title of 'Clearence Puppy' as well as a new home. Two weeks later John brings Marley home while Jennifer is on a business trip to KS. On the ride home Marley gets his name in honor of Bob Marley. From this point on we watch Marley grow up with the Grogans, he turns out to be the 'Worst Dog in the World' which is proven when he gets kicked out of obedience school. His antics are many and hilarious, but you truly fall in love with him when the Grogans lose there first baby and Marley is there to comfort them. Eventually the Grogans end up with three kids (Patrick, Connor, and Colleen/Whoops). John gets his big hit as a journalist when he is asked to take up a column and he writes mostly about Marley's many stunts as well as some other random, yet amusing topics. The family moves twice, eventually ending up in Pennsylvania, by which time the kids are getting big and Marley is getting old and beginning to suffer from some age-related maladies.

Spoiler: One night Marley runs off and is found lying under a tree with a twisted stomach -> John rushes him to the vet who untwists his stomach. He pulls through and comes home the next day. His age really begins to show after this as he no longer walks up stairs or frolics as he used to, he also loses most of his hearing. Eventually he twists his stomach again and has to be put to sleep. He is buried in the front lawn along with a few momentos of his life (including the necklace he swallowed at the beginning of the movie).

I highly recomend this movie to anyone looking for a movie to see in theaters this holiday season. I would say kids 10 and up could probably see it, kids below that age are too young for the length of the movie and some of the humor.

This is the only movie I have ever seen that made me want to read the book that it was based off of. I loved it.