Marmaduke The Movie Views

General Goods

So when the movie version of Marmaduke begins and the overgrown title character opens his mouth and we hear Owen Wilson's Texas drawl, there's an odd disconnect. It doesn't sound right. And it's kind of fun. For about five minutes. Then the movie settles into a predictable family-film groove about being yourself and fitting in and passing gas and finding the answer to the age-old question: Who let the dogs out?

Marmaduke first lives in Kansas, but soon moves to The O.C. with his human family. The movie teaches us that: 1) taking a job with an organic dog food company gives you the means to buy an ocean-front home in Orange County; 2) you wear fuchsia ties to work because that's how they roll in Cali ; and 3) it's best not to remove your shoes when walking around in a dog park.

Wilson's amiable vocal work keeps the predictability from becoming too grating. The movie takes a sharp, strange turn in its last half-hour, injecting some serious Homeward Bound -style peril into the proceedings. But don't worry: Marmaduke isn't going to meet Marley up in doggie heaven. With this dog, sobbing takes a backseat to slobbering.

Even though the Marmaduke movie trailer was criticized as one of the year's worst, there is definitely an audience for this movie -- pet-loving elementary schoolers who dig talking-animal flicks. If you are out of that narrow moviegoing niche, chances are high that you'll be unamused. No judgments here if it's too hot to stay home and this is the only PG-rated movie your family hasn't seen yet, but be prepared not so much to laugh but to marvel at Marmaduke's sheer size and the way the screenwriters turned dogs into teenagers with romantic and social drama to rival the very show that appears in the movie, The O.C..