John Grogan: A dog has no use for fancy cars, big homes, or designer clothes. A water log stick will do just fine. A dog doesn't care if your rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb. Give him your heart and he'll give you his. How many people can you say that about? How many people can make you feel rare and pure and special? How many people can make you feel extraordinary?
IMDB gives M&M 7.2/10. But don't take their word for it. Animal lovers, like religious people, have a different set of values, insights and experiences from everybody else. And this movie has something of a back story for me.
My father bought a Labrador puppy years ago - the runt of a litter. We named him Pasquinel after a french explorer in the James Michener book Centennial. It was a crazy choice that somehow stuck. Pask - I remember that dog licking me awake on sooo many mornings... Pask was absolutely terrified of thunderstorms, but sired three beautiful dogs. Lala and Jessie are all that's left, bitches that are now old tannies, Lala with a biggish tumor on her hind leg. Max, the male, suffered from a degenerative spinal disease that slowly ate up the dog's spine. My father, an old dog himself, didn't want to put the dog down. He said he believed the dog still wanted to live and that it wasn't up to him to deprive him of his right to life. Max suffered more than we thought was necessary, and there was some snot and trane when he was put down.
Barry Ronge's review is one I think you should read too: Paws for thought.
Ronge writes: I know it all sounds very “Disney on sentimental steroids” but it is a true story. Marley was a real dog and the Grogans are a real family, which adds the necessary ballast to one of the best “dogs-and-their-families” movies so far this century.
I liked this flick for a few reasons besides. Based on a true story, about a man, John Grogan, who yearns to be a cutting edge writer (that resonated with me) and at the same time is trying to balance a home life (and keep it happy). Simple and unambitious you think?
Marley & Me is a meaningful flick in that it touches some basics, but big basics, in that great Scheme called Life. Sometimes we forget the simple themes in our gadget-filled and infotainment lives. And one of the basic themes in life is simply to go out there and seize it. Go OUTSIDE, onto the lawns, into the outdoor swimming pools (or duckponds) and get wet, get into the wind and sun. Writing about the Ironman, a day in which people run around all day wearing barely a thread of clothing, I said- The goal is here. Not some time or place in the future, but Now. The world suddenly seems irretrievably large, and glowing. Now look at what you can live, and then leap in to it.
That is what we learn from having a dog or any pet for that matter. That they are there, they seize life by the paws or by the teeth. They live it. They seize each day for its scraps - the fun, the food, the lazy comfort of a square of sunshine on the carpet. And then it is gone. In that simple contrast is a valuable lesson. That we appreciate each other. That we recognise a moment for its fleeting specialness. That we remember that this too, however good it is, or bad, will pass. To honor our moments together, especially those shared. And that the most valuable of our moments and memories are those shared with others - human and other creatures alike.
I cried in this film, and so did other men. A woman I know that works for Twentieth century Fox told me not a single man walked out of her first screening with dry eyes. This is why I highly recommend this flick. Not because you will cry, but because you will be moved in a way that reminds you what makes sense in life. 8/10 and don't you forget it.
No comments:
Post a Comment