Why I'll never see Marley & Me
I never read the book Marley & Me.
Oh, I was tempted, alright. There it was, its cute cover staring out at me every time I entered a bookstore.
My cousin Bill bought it and loved it -- he has a yellow Lab, Maggie, who looks exactly like Marley. Maggie has been known to be a handful, just like her celebrity counterpart Marley. And Bill's last name is Marley. So how could he resist?
After he read it, I pressed him for details. Yep, sure enough, just as I suspected. There was a buzzkill ending.
When I found out the dog dies in the end, I decided to stay clear of the book.
Same goes with the movie.
Marley & Me (the movie) is getting pretty good reviews. The trailers are adorable. I'd read in one of my favorite magazines that one of the nice things about the film is that it features a very positive portrayal of a lasting, committed marriage (rare these days).
The main characters are reporters, another draw for me to see it. It clearly has lots of very funny moments.
My good friend Kathy (who grew up with dogs but by her own admission isn't really a hard-core "animal" person) saw the movie this past week with her two 20- something daughters and said it was great.
Oh, and Marley is SO incredibly cute.
So tempting.
But no thanks.
Call me a wimp.
But we overly-sensitive animal people are funny that way. Watching dogs or cats -- or bunnies or ducks -- go through tragedy and then old age and death -- with strains of sad music playing in the background -- is torture for many of us. I have a co-worker who tells me that "Lassie" was literally banned in her household when she was a little girl. The weekly episodes invariably sent her into crying jags.
"Lassie was always in peril," she told me, recalling how the collie was always getting lost and separated from her humans. "I worried about Lassie. Who was going to take care of her?"
A few years ago, a friend asked me to go see My Dog Skip. I was reluctant. I figured Skip probably died in the end. But hey, the movie was getting rave reviews. She kept encouraging me to go, so I did.
I spent the last 15-30 minutes of the movie desperately trying to stifle my sobs and runny nose, dreading the time when the lights would come up to reveal my tears. I should have just walked out to the lobby at that point. But I didn't.
By the time the final credits rolled, I was a total mess. I came completely undone. "What's wrong with you?" whispered my friend, clearly stunned by my intense reaction. Honestly, I think she walked three steps ahead of me all the way out to the parking lot.
When I could finally speak again, I said, "Well, THAT was pleasant."
She apologized, reasoning that my old terrier Fritz, who was still with me at that time, probably made seeing the movie difficult.
True, I've had to say goodbye to several animals in my lifetime. And I knew that Fritz, who did sort of look like Skip, probably would be next in rather short order.
But it was more than that. Something about the way these films milk the maudlin sadness, I don't know. It just strikes me as so manipulative. But of course it is meant to be manipulative. This is Hollywood, that's what they do. I shouldn't fault them. But I've come to the conclusion I simply can't watch another animal movie that ends badly.
It all hits way too close to home for those of us who have loved and lost a special pet. (And, heck, they're all special.)
Reading some columns about the new film, though, made me realize I'm not alone. Like this one by Craig MacInnis in The Ottawa Citizen. He mentions Jonathan Van Meter's write-up of a screening of the film:
Van Meter recently attended a sneak preview (of Marley and Me) and this is what he had to say. "In the screening I attended in Los Angeles, there were about 20 people, and most of them were openly sobbing in the last half hour."
Openly sobbing? For half an hour? Thanks for the warning. Not going anywhere near that.
And Glenn Whipp, our former Daily Breeze film critic, tells us in his review for the L.A. Times that there isn't a dry eye in the house by the time the movie ends:
Hit any multiplex these days and you'll know when the latest showing of Marley & Me has just ended -- simply observe the stream of tears pouring out of the theater.
"I promised myself I wasn't going to cry, but I couldn't help myself," Lakewood resident Billie Peterson said, dabbing her eyes after a weekend Marley showing at the Edwards 26 in the Long Beach Towne Center, which she attended with her two daughters. "But we weren't the only ones. The whole theater was sniffling at the end."
Dang. Now doesn't that sound like fun?
Personally, I'm holding out for Hotel for Dogs, a movie coming out on Jan. 16.
It's a real comedy.
The kind where the dogs don't die.
Or so I'm told.
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About the Bloggers
Daily Breeze reporter Donna Littlejohn has shared her homes with a succession of wonderful, funny, and occasionally difficult canines -- Muffin, Fritz, Ellie, Mercy, Pilgrim and now Cowboy, an Australian shepherd-border collie, and Tess, a border collie. From strong-willed terriers to weirdly obsessed Australian shepherds, they've invaded her world with boundless energy, wet noses, muddy paws and soggy tennis balls. But they've really brought so much more than that -- like laughter and joy, some unexpected life lessons, and more than a few tears along the way.
E-mail Donna at donna.littlejohn@dailybreeze.com.
Josh Grossberg grew up with the usual array of animals: goldfish, dogs, hamsters, parakeets and turtles. He now owns the loudest dog in the South Bay(Video: Rocket the Dog) and is the least popular person on his block. He spends his free time in dog parks, pet shops and always has an extra plastic bag in his pocket just in case. He also has a cat.
E-mail Josh at josh.grossberg@dailybreeze.com.
I totally agree with you. The movie could've skipped the iv drip and just ended with "Two weeks later" showing the family getting a new puppy. I'll never go see it.
My wife read the book and told me about it.
I will not become a tearful theater attendee. We might rent it so we can sob together in the privacy of our own home, but I probably don't own enough hankerchiefs to see the movie in a theater. I may need a towel.
Our Cookie is now fourteen-years old. We are closing in toward the time we will have to let our 'daughter' go and even that prospect has us very sad.
We continue to enjoy every day we have with her and we hope we are helping her age with grace and comfort.
When my dad had to have our much beloved 'Rumar' put to sleep, it was the first and only time I ever saw him cry.
I did not have the courage to go with Terri when 'Shandy' was put to sleep and I was a basket case for a few days after saying good-bye to him.
I don't know how many people realize that for many of us, our pets become very important members of our families. It is nothing compared to losing a human member of the family, but losing a beloved pet that has been around for many years hurts quite a bit.
So I will remember the fun I heard from Terri when she told me snippets from Marly and Me, but I don't wish to witness even a fictional depiction of Marly and the fictional effects it has on the actors in the film.
I'd rather spend the time walking, petting, and playing with Cookie for all the time we have left.
Mark: Those of us who have gone through the 'real thing' (and anticipate going through it again in the future) find it especially hard to watch these movies. You're right, it doesn't compare to losing a human family member or friend. But it is amazing how much losing a pet can really hurt.
Cookie sounds like a great dog who has a great home. Doesn't get better than that. (BTW, I had two terriers I "inherited" after my mom died unexpectedly and they both lived to be almost 17 years old.) Losing a pet was so devastating to our family, though, that we began to always keep 2 dogs (or cats) around, staggering their ages as much as possible. That way, when one was lost, we always still had another dog to come home to -- until a new (2nd) one was adopted.
And to our other comment from Donna referring to the "IV drip" effect: What a perfect description. "My Dog Skip" really dragged it all out at the end when I kept thinking they could have made it a fairly quick, symbolic kind of ending that still would have been sad but not drag the audience through such torture. I know that movies are made to make people "feel" and experience all those emotions, so from that standpoint they succeeded.
But the irony is that the main folks staying clear of these animal movies now are animal lovers.
Boy...I am really happy that there is more *weird* people like me in this world.....just last night I told my husband I would never be able to see that movie because I heard the dog dies at the end. I am still not over Axl , my Shepard who died almost 3 years ago and his ashes are still parked on a shelf because I can not decide where to put them and not have him with me anymore.
On another note ..movies like that make my blood boil when the news report that the sales of purebred Lab's are up 500% since the movie came out and the first reports of animal shelters appear with excess numbers of Lab's being turned in because *they were not like the dog in the movie *