MRM - Marley and Me at 4:56 PM

Directed by: David Frankel

Written by: Scott Frank, Don Roos

Starring Cast: Owen Wilson (John Grogan), Jennifer Aniston (Jennifer Grogan)

Supporting Cast: Eric Dane (Sebastian), Clarke Peters (Editor)

What's it Rated?: PG for thematic material, suggestive content and language

Genre: pets, memoirs, romance

Synopsis: John Grogan buys his wife a dog in hopes to delay her desire for children, but they soon find out that the dog was far worse than expected.

My Take: In all my born days I have never seen an more mis-rated movie ever!!! The repeated use of foul language, references to and explicit sexual content, humanistic worldview and generally immoral behavior was SICKENING! I never thought I'd ever have to skip a scene in a PG rated movie, but we skipped two!!! Normally I add what I think needs to be added to the rating in parentheses, but this time there is just too much to add.

Seriously!

OK, I've calmed down a bit now... IF you were OK with the above items, and IF you though you would like this movie, this is what I say about everything else:

Good story, truth truly is stranger than fiction as illustrated by the "book-to-film" of the Grogan family memoirs. The adventures of an incredibly neurotic dog are hilarious sometimes, but not others. In the end it felt rather long as the exiting wore off and the mundane set in, but all in all, an OK story.

As I said above, funny in parts, absolutely not in others. The repeated use of suggestive humor was a real killer for me and the rest of the family watching this movie.

Overall, Not recommendable at all. Don't be fooled by the marketing as a kids film, it's not. The characters deal with some complex issues and predicaments and some are not handled well. (there were two that were better, Sebastian asks John if he and Jennifer are getting divorced, and he balks at that saying: "Mend it, don't end it" stating a more committed view of marriage. Also, Jennifer Grogan decides to be a stay-at-home-mom and says later: "... I made a choice. And even if it's harder than I thought--I don't regret it!")

Story: 6.5 out of 10

Humor: 4 out of 10

Action/Suspense: N/A

Overall: 2 out of 10

-Graydon L