I was a little wary of seeing this movie, only because I’m not a big dog person.  I’ve never had a dog and don’t really have much interest in ever owning one, but I’d heard people say the movie was cute–back when it was out at Christmas time–and I’m always a sucker for Owen Wilson so I figured I’d give the DVD a shot.

Now I have to admit I’m no more interested in buying a dog than I was before I saw it; in fact, I’m probably less so, thanks to the non-stop shenanigans and destruction made by one dog throughout the entire movie.  I couldn’t figure out why they didn’t sell or trade in that crazy dog, especially once they had kids and the dog’s antics affected the whole family.  They had one scene where Aniston had just spent all this time getting their colicky second baby to sleep, only to have the dog bark loudly and wake him up.  The kid starts screaming again and Aniston looks like she’s going to scream herself.  It’s no wonder the couple struggled with their marriage.   “Just get rid of the dog,” I kept thinking, “and your life will be so much easier.”

Even though the dog stuff drove me a little nuts after a while–funny at first, but then it just got old (and way too long)–I was surprised to find how much I liked the story of Wilson and Aniston and their growing family.  Wilson struggles to find his niche in the journalism world, while Aniston gives up her successful career to raise their kids.  And while she chooses to be a stay-at-home mom, like all of us she has a lot of hard days and resents the things she’s had to sacrifice in the process.  Meanwhile, Wilson can’t figure out how to help her be happy when he’s struggling to be happy himself.

Some of my favorite scenes were the ones where Wilson pulls into the driveway from work and sits in the car for a few minutes to watch Aniston through the window.  Some days he does it to bask in how content he is with his life, while other days you can tell he just doesn’t want to walk in the door to a grouchy wife, tired and colicky kids, not to mention that crazy dog.  I’m pretty sure my husband has those days where he’d rather just sit in the garage listening to sports radio in his car than come in to our mess of a house with all its immediate demands.

Anyway, it’s fun to watch their family grow up and change over the many years this movie spans, and I was happy the overall message was one about family rather than dogs.