Marley & Me

Marley & Me would have made such a great GAP advert were it not for that pesky ‘character-giving’ nose of Owen Wilson’s. No doubt the casting directors thought he’d add a bit of indie credibility to a film that’s otherwise sickeningly picture perfect. With Jennifer Aniston co-starring as Wilson’s perfect new wife, Mr and Mrs Grogan start out married life in perfectly sunny Florida as the world’s most optimistically paid rookie journalists, even by Hollywood’s inflated standards, if their succession of increasingly mansion-like love nests is anything to go by.
 
Perfect, that is, until the loveable but mischievous Labrador pup, Marley, comes into their life and starts crapping all over their beautiful soft furnishings and humping people’s legs. If its December 25 US release date signified anything, it’s that some dogs really are just for Christmas.

Ellen E Jones