Following Marley & Me starring Jennifer Anniston and Owen Wilson is the direct-to-video sequel, Marley & Me: The Puppy Years, available exclusively at Walmart, Sam’s Club and Walmart.com.  Although Anniston and Wilson do not make an appearance, Marley is back with his infamous knack for getting into trouble.  This episode is set during the time period of the first film, when Marley is still a puppy and his owners John and Jennifer are out of town on business. He spends the summer with other members of the Grogan family, young Bodi and his mother Carol (Rise of Planet of the Apes’ Chelah Horsdal), as well as Grandpa (Tron Legacy’s Donnelly Rhodes).

Bodi loves Marley and all his puppy imperfections and greatly desires a dog of his own.  His workaholic mother is skeptical that he’s ready for such a responsibility.  While she is also away on business, Brodi decides to train Marley for the Ultimate Puppy Championship, along with a couple of other neighborhood pups.  He hopes that in preparing the trio for the competition, he’ll show commitment and responsibility as a pet owner.  His grandfather agrees to let Bodi train the dogs on a homemade obstacle course in the back yard, and he keeps Bodi accountable for his decision to see it through to completion.

Over the next few weeks, Bodi and puppies Marley, Moose and Fuchsia meet other dogs in the area and at the Championship as well.  They have a number of adventures, overcoming villains and making new friends.  There’s lots of lighthearted fun and a few life lessons are learned along the way.

While this sequel features the same family name and same impish puppy of the 2008 original, it’s intended for a very different audience.  Make no mistake—Marley & Me: The Puppy Years is for the children of those who saw the more adult Marley & Me.  It’s fluffy, silly, and devoid of any uncomfortable mature situations.  Unlike the previous film, there is no sexual content and the language is toned down quite a bit.  There are plenty of fart jokes and sight gags, which made my eyes roll while my boys roared with laughter. The moment of greatest tension came during a situation with some local junkyard dogs, but ultimately nothing occurs and all is well at the conclusion of the scene.  The same can be said for the movie—there are a few moments of suspense and childlike hilarity, and ultimately everything works out in the end.

As Marley & Me: The Puppy Years clearly has a young target audience, I can’t say that I would recommend this to adults.  It’s very juvenile and would never have made it in wide release.  However, as a parent I didn’t find it painfully annoying and the content was pretty clean for my two young boys.  The life lessons of perseverance, responsibility and friendship are heavily promoted, which are great values to present in a movie for children.  And while the film is somewhat forgettable for me as a grownup, I did find my eyes getting a bit misty during one of the final scenes.  This is good, clean, family fun, and a safe choice for those looking for a cute movie for their kids.

Special Features:

• “Marley & Me: The Puppy Years Goes to Training Camp”
• “Part of the Family”
• “My Favorite Moments”