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![Wide Releases](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/heads/widereleases.gif)
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
![Limited Releases](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/heads/limitedreleases.gif)
58
Adam Resurrected
64
Appaloosa
69
Ashes of Time Redux
68
August Evening
54
Battle in Seattle
75
Betrayal - Nerakhoon, The
70
Black Balloon, The
xx
Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh
55
Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The
51
Breakfast with Scot
xx
Cargo 200
44
Chandni Chowk to China
63
Changeling
64
Che
56
Cherry Blossoms
84
Christmas Tale, A![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
94
Class, The![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
38
Dark Streets
58
Defiance
43
Donkey Punch
xx
Dostana
62
Duchess, The
46
Dukes, The
63
Eden
xx
Extreme Movie
69
Fear(s) of the Dark
26
Filth and Wisdom
28
Fireproof
80
Frost/Nixon
43
Gardens of the Night
73
Girl Cut in Two, A
40
Good
54
Good Dick
30
Guitar, The
84
Happy-Go-Lucky![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
31
Hounddog
21
House of the Sleeping Beauties
50
How About You
70
Hunger
72
I Served the King of England
70
I.O.U.S. A
40
Igor
79
I've Loved You So Long
64
JCVD
65
Just Another Love Story
29
Lake City
57
Last Chance Harvey
82
Let the Right One In![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
31
Let Them Chirp Awhile
xx
Local Color
17
Lodger, The
xx
Luck by Chance
89
Man on Wire![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
xx
Medicine for Melancholy
70
Moscow, Belgium
36
My Name Is Bruce
28
Nobel Son
43
Not Easily Broken
64
Nothing But the Truth
79
Of Time and the City
40
Other End of the Line, The
34
Otto; or Up with Dead People
75
Pool, The
78
Pray the Devil Back to Hell
xx
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
82
Rachel Getting Married![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
58
Reader, The
56
Religulous
32
Repo! The Genetic Opera
53
RocknRolla
65
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
82
Secret of the Grain, The![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
xx
Shadows
75
Silent Light
86
Slumdog Millionaire![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
57
Special
82
Stranded: I Have Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
67
Synecdoche, New York
82
Tell No One![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
68
Theater of War
68
Timecrimes
83
Trouble the Water![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
43
Tru Loved
83
U2 3D![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
90
Waltz with Bashir![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
59
We Are Wizards
81
Wendy and Lucy![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
71
What Doesn't Kill You
55
What Just Happened?
61
Where God Left His Shoes
40
While She Was Out
81
Wrestler, The![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
48
Yonkers Joe
94
Class, The![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
90
Waltz with Bashir![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
89
Man on Wire![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
86
Slumdog Millionaire![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
84
Christmas Tale, A![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
84
Happy-Go-Lucky![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
83
Trouble the Water![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
83
U2 3D![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
82
Tell No One![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
82
Secret of the Grain, The![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
82
Rachel Getting Married![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
82
Let the Right One In![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
82
Stranded: I Have Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
81
Wrestler, The![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
81
Wendy and Lucy![](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/scores/star.gif)
80
Frost/Nixon
79
Of Time and the City
79
I've Loved You So Long
78
Pray the Devil Back to Hell
75
Pool, The
75
Betrayal - Nerakhoon, The
75
Silent Light
73
Girl Cut in Two, A
72
I Served the King of England
71
What Doesn't Kill You
70
Black Balloon, The
70
Moscow, Belgium
70
Hunger
70
I.O.U.S. A
69
Ashes of Time Redux
69
Fear(s) of the Dark
68
August Evening
68
Timecrimes
68
Theater of War
67
Synecdoche, New York
65
Just Another Love Story
65
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
64
Che
64
JCVD
64
Nothing But the Truth
64
Appaloosa
63
Changeling
63
Eden
62
Duchess, The
61
Where God Left His Shoes
59
We Are Wizards
58
Adam Resurrected
58
Reader, The
58
Defiance
57
Special
57
Last Chance Harvey
56
Cherry Blossoms
56
Religulous
55
Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The
55
What Just Happened?
54
Battle in Seattle
54
Good Dick
53
RocknRolla
51
Breakfast with Scot
50
How About You
48
Yonkers Joe
46
Dukes, The
44
Chandni Chowk to China
43
Tru Loved
43
Donkey Punch
43
Gardens of the Night
43
Not Easily Broken
40
While She Was Out
40
Igor
40
Other End of the Line, The
40
Good
38
Dark Streets
36
My Name Is Bruce
34
Otto; or Up with Dead People
32
Repo! The Genetic Opera
31
Hounddog
31
Let Them Chirp Awhile
30
Guitar, The
29
Lake City
28
Nobel Son
28
Fireproof
26
Filth and Wisdom
21
House of the Sleeping Beauties
17
Lodger, The
xx
Dostana
xx
Medicine for Melancholy
xx
Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh
xx
Cargo 200
xx
Local Color
xx
Shadows
xx
Luck by Chance
xx
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
xx
Extreme Movie
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Marley & Me
20th Century Fox
MPAA RATING: PG for thematic material, some suggestive content and language
Starring
Owen Wilson,
Jennifer Aniston,
Alan Arkin,
Eric Dane,
and
Kathleen Turner
John and Jenny were just beginning their life together. They were young and in love, with a perfect little house and not a care in the world. Then they brought home Marley, a wiggly yellow furball of puppy love. Life would never be the same. (20th Century Fox)
GENRE(S): |
Comedy
|
WRITTEN BY: |
Don Roos
Scott Frank
|
DIRECTED BY: |
David Frankel
|
RELEASE DATE: |
Theatrical: December 25, 2008
|
RUNNING TIME: |
123 minutes, Color |
ORIGIN: |
USA |
![What The Critics Said](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/heads/whatthecriticssaid.gif)
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
91
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
Wilson has a scene near the end with Marley that's the most wrenchingly tender acting of his career.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
75
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
It's an enjoyable and unpretentious perspective of life that reminds us how important and rewarding the little things can be.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
75
Chicago Tribune
Jessica Reaves
And then there's Alan Arkin, who, as John's editor, is hilarious and dry--it's frankly a shame he's not onscreen for every single scene.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
75
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
When Marley is not on the screen, Wilson and Aniston demonstrate why they are gifted comic actors. They have a relationship that's not too sitcomish, not too sentimental, mostly smart and realistic.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
75
Miami Herald
Connie Ogle
Marley & Me gets so many of the details right, particularly in its final act, when it turns into a five-hanky weeper.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
The humans, particularly the wistful Wilson, deadpan Alan Arkin (as Grogan's editor) and Nathan Gamble, a 10-year-old who plays the eldest Grogan child, are very affecting. Aniston, who has great offbeat comic timing, doesn't quite find her rhythm here.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
Looks to be this season's family animal comedy.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Rick Groen
Never brilliant but always solid and often wry, Marley & Me is what it celebrates -- an amiable overachiever.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
75
Baltimore Sun
Chris Kaltenbach
Wilson, who has never made the film in which he convincingly played sincere, turns out to be a wise choice to play John Grogan.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
70
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
Marley & Me gets so much surprisingly right. It may be designed to reach a broad audience, but it doesn't pander.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
67
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
Sweet and wise and often laugh-out-loud funny (just like Grogan's book), Marley & Me isn't just for dog people; it's just not for Cruella De Vil.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
63
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
The movie is torn. It wants to honestly explore the natural wear-and-tear of the Grogan marriage. But it also seems OK with being something that could pass as a midseason replacement on ABC.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
63
Premiere
Olivia Putnal
Owen Wilson manages to break his customary comic relief persona and is adept at playing a little "Father Knows Best"; the yellow lab does a good job too.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
60
The Hollywood Reporter
Kirk Honeycutt
A warm and fuzzy family movie, but you do wish that at least once someone would upstage the dog.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
60
Variety
Todd McCarthy
This perky, episodic film is as broad and obvious as it could be, but delivers on its own terms thanks to sparky chemistry between its sunny blond stars, Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston, and the unabashed emotion-milking of the final reel.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
60
Los Angeles Times
Betsy Sharkey
An imperfect, messy and sometimes trying film that has moments of genuine sweetness and humor sprinkled in between the saccharine and the sadness.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
50
TV Guide
Cammila Albertson
As a modest little dramedy about the everyday adventures of starting a family, Marley & Me is pretty solid, but as a movie about the joy and heartbreak of owning a dog, it goes straight for the jugular.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
50
Chicago Reader
Andrea Gronvall
The end, a drawn-out death scene, is manipulative and, contrary to the movie's feel-good marketing, likely to upset youngsters.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
50
Washington Post
Philip Kennicott
There are three fine performances lost in this otherwise middling film. Alan Arkin makes a wonderfully gruff newspaper editor who does just about as much barking as Marley. Jennifer Aniston makes the most of the rather slender figure of Jennifer Grogan, creating a believably human picture of a career woman who gives it up for the kids. And then there's the dog that plays Marley.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
50
USA Today
Claudia Puig
Marley & Me might be easy to watch, but -- even for die-hard canine lovers -- it's as easy to forget.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
50
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Scott Tobias
Could not be more ordinary.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
50
San Francisco Chronicle
Walter Addiego
This love letter to man's best friend will make dog fanciers roll over and do tricks. It's so warmhearted, you'll want to run out and hug the nearest big, sloppy mutt. And while you're watching it, have your handkerchief ready.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
40
New York Daily News
Joe Neumaier
If characters talking to dogs and dog reaction shots are some of your favorite things, add some stars to this review.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
40
The New York Times
Stephen Holden
Bland, obsequious adaptation of John Grogan’s best-selling memoir.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
38
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
Watching the stars try to out-cutesy the mutt is one for the puke bucket.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
38
New York Post
Kyle Smith
We watched a story of a Labrador. Who eats the couch and disobeys. I said to Lady, "It's a labra-bore."
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
30
Village Voice
Jim Ridley
Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston relegate Marley to a lifestyle accessory in his own biopic.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
30
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
You'd have to be made of granite to resist all the charms of a free-spirited, 100-pound Lab. Yet the production manages, against heavy odds, to make its canine star an incorrigible bore.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
30
Film Threat
Pete Vonder Haar
Not many actors could do justice to the vanilla story presented by Grogan and screenwriters Scott Frank and Don Roos, but Wilson and Aniston – two of the blandest, most uninteresting actors working today – are just the actors to pull it off.
![Read Full Review](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/readreview.gif)
![What Our Users Said](/web/20090129070718im_/http://www.metacritic.com/_images/heads/whatouruserssaid.gif)
The average user rating for this movie is 6.3 (out of 10) based on 52 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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