MARLEY AND ME
Let us begin with this. Marley and Me has no earthly right to be half as good as it is. Even half of that half, considering my burning, acid-deep hatred for dog movies. I'm a dog person, but watching a bunch of glaze-eyed Hollywood Barbie and Ken dolls trying to out-cutesy the puppy just always turned me off. But this one (*GASP*) is about more than a puppy. It's about modern life, how to survive it and even have a little fun along the way. If you've ever seen a dog movie, you know the story. And you know what's gonna happen to Fluffy at the end. What makes this one different is that thanks to Owen Wilson and Jennifer Anniston, giving shockingly vanity-free performances, is you don't just care about the dog because he's got big warm-chocolate-chunk eyes and a heart of gold and incandescent poop and a glowing, puppy-chow strewn soul. You care about Marley because he's a part of this family, a sibling or a child, and you do care, very much, about the very real lives of this family. Speaking of reality, as the owner of a beautiful, mess-making dog myself, I can say this is the most truthful movie about human-dog relationships EVER MADE. If you're a dog-lover, you'll agree. And like me, you'll bawl openly and freely at the end. David Frankel ("Devil Wears Prada") is making a habit of taking movies that should suck and making them...well...not. Score two for Mr. Frankel. (I can't believe I'm saying this butttt)-A-.
GRAN TORINO
"Get off my laaaaawwwwwwn", Clint Eastwood growls. He sounds tired, shaky, scratchy, old as a broken record-and unequivocally bad-ass. If your reaction to that last statement was "cooooooool", Gran Torino is for you. If you expect "Million Dollar Baby II", then you're in for a royal screwing. The sooner you embrace this as a campy classic, the more fun you'll have at this moviefilm. Eastwood plays a horribly racist Korean War vet who gets caught up in a blood war between his new immigrant neighbors and a brutal local gang (all of whom hang out on their porches and sulk...and sulk. Again, campy.) The movie knows it's gonna get some laughs, and it doesn't shy away from them, making it a highly enjoyable experience. However, towards the end, when things do get serious, the film packs a real wallop in a brilliantly played scene that Eastwood takes on, both in front of and behind the camera, with an eye for irony, beauty, tragedy, and so much more. It's destined to be a cult classic, and it's the rare "bad-ass" movie that draws genuine emotion from you. An anomaly and somewhat of a miracle. A-
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