'Marley & Me' drops the ball on details

Life has a funny way of making you surprise yourself.

That's what John Grogan (Owen Wilson, Cars) comes to discover in Marley & Me. After marrying a beautiful woman (Jennifer Aniston, The Break-Up) and landing a job at a Florida newspaper, the Grogans adopt a dog, Marley, who winds up to be a handful.

Based on the 2005 novel by the real John Grogan, the coming years turn out to be not quite what they had originally planned. Instead, they discover that life, the way it happens, is much better than any predetermined steps.

Things we liked about the movie:

1. The dogs who played Marley were complete and utter joys. We've never seen a dog with so much on-screen personality, who can misbehave so much and still be completely endearing. The bonds he forms with the Grogans, especially with their oldest son Patrick (Nathan Gamble, The Dark Knight) were also incredibly genuine. Much is to be said for the talent of the trainers and actors who worked with Marley.

2. As a whole, Marley & Me is a heartwarming, feel-good film. Wilson and Aniston have adorable chemistry and a fun relationship most of the time. It's so refreshing to see a movie about a married couple who, though not without their problems, are very much in love. And the best part is, it's based on a true story.

3. Grogan's newspaper editor Arnie Klein (Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine) had some of the best lines and the best delivery in the film. His faith and encouragement in Grogan is contagious and inspires us to strive to surprise ourselves.

Things we disliked about the movie:

1. There was no attempt at any point to make it look like Wilson and Aniston aged. They look exactly the same from opening titles to end credits, despite the fact that the movie spans about 15 years. This was especially annoying as Wilson's character complained repeatedly about feeling older, but was still sporting his trademark, feathery blond ‘do.

2. It seems the filmmakers were near-sighted, in the sense that they couldn't see past the foreground on screen. But we could, and noticed a lot of easily-fixable editing and continuity errors: The family car would change from an Audi to a Toyota and back again between scenes. Aniston would be running through the rain when the sun was shining and nobody in the background was reacting to the weather. The obedience school teacher scolds Wilson for wearing sunglasses, and for the rest of the scene, a fellow classmate with giant sunglasses stands to the right just behind him. The lack of attention to detail makes the movie feel lazy and manufactured.

3. Grogan's friend and co-worker Sebastian (Eric Dane, Grey's Anatomy), who used Grogan's children and Marley to meet women and lived what Grogan thought would be his "dream life," was extremely unlikable. Mostly because he forced us to think of the name "McSteamy."

All in all, Marley & Me is a genuine, hilarious, touching and true story about a regular guy and his dog who live a very normal life. Well ... as normal as it can be with Marley around.