So you go into Marley & Me thinking that it’s a playful, little Christmas comedy about a rambunctious dog and his put upon owners; kind of like Beethoven with a pay increase and more star power than Charles Grodin. No, no my friends, this goes especially for those of you with children who are looking for a quick and efficient way to kill a couple of hours with the kids. Although there’s nothing objectionable really in terms of language or content, this is not a movie, I think, that’s supposed to be directed towards the funny dog set. It’s a memoir chronicling how in the midst of the upheaval of life, the best constant is the unconditional love of a pet.

John Grogan is a newspaper reporter that married fellow journalist Jennifer and then moved themselves to Miami to work for separate papers. In an effort to prepare for life with a baby, they adopted a golden lab and named him Marley for reggae legend Bob. As these things go, Marley is an unconventional dog that’s prone to eating the inedible, doing what he wants and yelping with frightening intensity at the slightest clap of thunder. But Marley, despite being a menace on four legs, ingrains himself on the life of John and Jennifer as he helps see them through good times and bad as the family grows to include three young children.

Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston play the Grogans, and boy could they be duller? I know what you’re going to say, and you’re wondering if the point of this thing all along was to get to the humorously destructive dog. But the focus of the film is really on this married couple and how they deal with juggling careers, miscarriages, postpartum depression and other marital drama, and how Marley either alleviates or exacerbates the stressful house. There’s a lot of stuff about John’s career issues, getting painted into writing a regular column rather than reporting the “big stories.” It gets kind of tedious, but at least we get some time with an always hilarious Alan Arkin as John’s editor.

So with the human characters as dry as an unsalted cracker, it’s up to Marley to carry us through. There’s nothing really exceptional in this, just the usual bad dog slap stick, but I will say that the life of Marley does, and will, get to anyone in the audience that’s ever owned a dog. Especially the last 20 minutes or so as the older Marley struggles and passes away – there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. People that have or have had dogs get it. The feeling of powerlessness and inevitability and knowing that this was both foreseeable and Earth-shattering is powerful. Being a kid and losing your best friend, or being an adult and losing a member of your family; that’s where the movie gets you

Most of the rest of the time though it’s just Owen Wilson griping and making dryly delivered, sarcastic remarks, or Jennifer Aniston occasionally soap operatic histrionics. But because I know the love and loss of having a beloved dog a couple of times over, I’m giving Marley & Me a slight recommendation. Just be aware of what you’re getting into and that you’re not there to see Air Bud or Must Love Dogs or something of the like. It’s well made, and it can get a little funny at times, but it’s definitely a movie made for a certain type. And if you’re the type that has fond memories of a pet that perhaps only you saw the value in, then hey, this one’s for you.