Marley & Me (Fox Home Entertainment, single-disc edition for $16.99; two-disc edition for $22.99; and three-disc Blu-ray edition for $25.99) — Twentieth Century Fox, the studio that gobbled up the movie rights for the best-seller “Marley & Me,” wanted director David Frankel to tell the story of the “world’s worst dog.”
But Mr. Frankel (“The Devil Wears Prada”) had little interest in making a movie about a crazy canine.
“I actually turned it down. They came to me three or four times” with the project, Mr. Frankel says. He finally relented when he saw a draft of the script that didn’t focus solely on stupid pet tricks.
“It was a movie about a marriage,” he says.
The scene that sold Mr. Frankel involved a necklace — and doggie doo. Owen Wilson, playing John Grogan, hoses down Marley’s waste to find a necklace the dog gulped down in the previous scene.
“This is not how I pictured my life,” the character mutters. Marriage, Mr. Frankel thought, is full of such unglamorous moments.
In an age when film marriages are often all about dysfunction, the movie shows a couple getting knocked down a few times but always getting back up.
“Marley & Me,” out on DVD Tuesday, also stars Jennifer Aniston as Jenny Grogan, the co-owner of the rambunctious yellow labrador retriever. The dog nearly wears out his welcome early on, but soon he becomes an integral part of the Grogan family.
The film made a mint during its late 2008 release — $142 million — but it was not without its critics. Some complained “Marley & Me,” although rated PG, was inappropriate for children due to a few very somber sequences.
“I’m a dad, so I try to objectively judge the movie as a parent,” Mr. Frankel says. But he argues that “Marley & Me” is about family life — and all its inherent complications.
“There’s a strange shying away from discussing mortality in America,” he says. “If kids get sad about death, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.” Families should discuss the difficult scenes in “Marley” together, he suggests.
The box office success from “Prada” and “Marley” hasn’t opened as many doors for Mr. Frankel as one might think.
“I’m struggling to make a comedy about bird watching. I’ve been nursing it for three years,” he says.
The director isn’t delusional about why people plunked down money to see his latest movie.
“The elements of dog comedy and dog slapstick that people were looking forward to seeing” brought them in, he says. “We included as many as we could.”
— Christian Toto
Ten: Deluxe Edition (Epic, 2 CD/1 DVD, $40.98) — Pearl Jam’s groundbreaking first album, “Ten,” gets the fancy treatment in the form of four new releases. Included in the “Deluxe Edition” reviewed here is a remastered version of the original album, a version that has been remixed by veteran Pearl Jam producer Brendan O’Brien, as well as a never before released DVD of the band’s performance for “MTV Unplugged.”
The album is the heart of this package, but the real gem here for fans of the band is the “Unplugged” show. Although audio from the original broadcast has floated around the Internet in various illegal forms over the last 15 years, this is the first time a copy of the show itself is available for purchase.
Although not as brilliant as rival grunge band Nirvana’s “Unplugged” show, Pearl Jam’s set holds up quite nicely on its own. By stripping down the music to its barest elements, the broadcast highlights Eddie Vedder’s vocals, which were at the height of their power in 1992. Included on this DVD is the unaired cut “Oceans,” a tough track to find even in the wild, wild West of Internet piracy.
The two new versions of “Ten” both sound excellent, and the remastered CD includes six bonus tracks. It’s a great set for the die-hards, although casual fans might have a tough time justifying a $40 purchase.
In addition to the “Deluxe Edition,” Epic is peddling a “Legacy Edition” that includes just the CDs, a “Vinyl Collection” that features the remixed and remastered versions of “Ten” (but not the bonus tracks) and a “Super Deluxe Edition,” which includes all of the above plus a two LP set of a concert from Magnuson Park in Seattle and a replica cassette of the band’s demo, “Momma-Son.”
— Sonny Bunch
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