Marley & Me

A terrific memoir reduced to a TV movie of the week masquerading as big screen entertainment. Yes, the dog is cute but unfortunately the film is not.

To begin with, Marley as a young puppy is adorable but there is too little screen time for the pup and before you can say pooperscooper, Marley is an adult dog tearing through the house chewing anything in his way. Nicknamed "the world's worst dog" simply because he was never trained properly is certainly not Marley's fault. Who waits until a dog is an adult before going for training or obedience lessons? I guess his owners, played by Owen Wilson and Jennifer Anniston, were too busy trying to find chemistry between them or solving their own life problems. For a film named for the dog, way too much attention is spent on the humans.

All the cute fun moments are found in the trailer or commercial and for the few laughs and smiles they produce, there is much more sad and unsettling moments throughout the film. Certainly any dog lover will need a full box of tissues by the credits.

Pass on " Marley & Me" and rent the DVD of "My Dog Skip" instead.