Trailer Review: Marley & Me

Posted by Paul Clark


Today we conclude Memoir Week here at Trailer Review with the trailer for the adaptation of John Grogan’s Marley & Me. Not having read the book, I’m ill-prepared to pass pre-emptive judgment on the movie version, which stars Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. But this teaser doesn’t give me a whole lot of hope. Now, I realize that making a teaser is a tricky business, having to give audiences a taste of the movie without much footage to work with. But this one just feels lazy- thirty seconds of a cute little dog, a glimpse of Wilson and Aniston chasing him, then the title. On top of that, there’s the head-slappingly obvious use of Vangelis’ Chariots of Fire theme, which despite its overuse for the past quarter century has become Hollywood’s music of choice to accompany a running scene, no matter what life form it might be. The only other thing I know is that the movie was directed by David Frankel, who with this and The Devil Wears Prada is quickly becoming Hollywood’s go-to guy for bringing memoirs to the big screen. I wasn’t a big fan of the earlier film, so I’ll probably pass on this one.


Comments

xxsodaboy said:

I found out about the adaptation at about the same time as I was reading Grogan's book, which is probably one of the first things to bring a tear to my eye when reading it in quite awhile. It's a quick and pretty entertaining read, so even if you avoid the film like the plague, I still suggest you check it out.

August 8, 2008 9:27 PM

Judith Burnell said:

I read Marley and Me on a cross-country flight between California and New York city, laughing aloud the whole time and fearing that the other passengers would think I was crazy. It was the funniest, most touching book I had ever read, and I won't pass up the movie (even if it is not as good). I have a caveat for you, however: I love cats, dogs, young children and other small creatures. If you don't, Marley and Me is not for you.

August 13, 2008 8:17 PM

in