Thursday, July 28, 2011

LET KERMODE DO THE WORK FOR YOU: Marley & Me (2008)



I don't care for dog pictures. It's not the dog's fault, it's just that I don't have much tolerance for Hollywood schmaltz, and dogs are an easy conduit for schmaltz. I also don't care for "yuppie author" pictures; you know, where the lead character is a highly successful white lame-o who writes for a living, yet when you hear their writing in voice over, it's something along the lines of "my Volvo died a thousand deaths...this is the world...this is life". You're supposed to believe they're great because they are successful, and they are successful because they somehow make a lot of money. Fucking yuppies.



Anyway, Marley & Me combines these two genres, tweaked with an obnoxious twist that goes for anti-schmaltz but only ends up piling on more schmaltz. Having said that, I thought Alan Arkin was funny, although he seemed like he was just improvising his lines. I guess I just don't have faith that a writer of dog pictures can formulate humor. So, other than that...fuck this movie. Yeah, I said it.



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