MARMADUKE
A big-hearted canine comedy with strong family values.
Should You Watch It?
Marmaduke is a warm, funny family comedy with a clever opening and an exciting, heartwarming finish. Its strongest ideas are good ones: family members should support one another, friends should stand up to bullies, and personal integrity matters.
The movie loses momentum in the middle when it focuses too much on Marmaduke’s relationships with other dogs and forgets his human family. It also includes scatological jokes, very brief foul language, and a couple of jokes about dogs getting high on mushrooms or being tranquilized before a flight.
If your family can handle that mild questionable humor, Marmaduke is worth seeing for its positive values and affectionate portrait of family life.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESMarmaduke, a lovable Great Dane, moves with his family from Kansas to Southern California when his father takes a new job with an organic pet food company.
At the local dog park, Marmaduke discovers a social world that feels like high school. Hoping to fit in with the popular dogs, he becomes distracted from the family and friends who have always stood by him.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means this is an enjoyable film with clear strengths and some unevenness. The opening is clever and hilarious, introducing Marmaduke and the Winslow family with energy and charm. The talented voice cast does marvelous work, especially Owen Wilson as Marmaduke and George Lopez as Carlos.
The movie lags in the middle when it concentrates too much on Marmaduke’s relationships with the other dogs. But the third act becomes exciting and heartwarming as Phil and Marmaduke’s lives are endangered. The result is a likable comedy that does not sustain its best momentum all the way through.
The Worldview
Marmaduke has a strong positive worldview centered on supporting and helping family and friends. It also stresses standing up to bullies, restoring personal integrity, and seeking forgiveness. Marmaduke learns not to become conceited and self-absorbed, while Phil learns that his job should not cause him to neglect his family commitments.
The film’s family values align with important biblical principles. Its emphasis on helping others, admitting wrong, and restoring relationships reflects Christian moral teaching. The father’s lesson about work and family also connects with the biblical call for husbands to love and serve their families rather than neglect them.
The source review describes the film as addressing a conflict with the biblical notion that husbands are supposed to be the head of the household, while also criticizing modern secular society’s rejection of that principle. That commentary is part of the review’s conviction about the film’s family message.
The movie’s central lesson is that popularity cannot replace integrity or faithful love. Scripture says, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church” (Ephesians 5:25).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Strong moral worldview with some light redemptive content reflecting Christian values stressing the importance of supporting and helping one’s family and friends, and standing up to bullies and restoring personal integrity, with many jokes comparing dog parks to high school for dogs, including a clique that eats mushrooms in the park and behaves like stoners, plus title character gets wrapped up in trying to be popular and lies and forgets his friends but learns his lesson and seeks forgiveness; one “My God” profanity and three uses of the word b-u-t-t, plus some scatological humors as dog urinates in man’s cup, dog urinates on couch, two jokes about family dog deliberately passing gas in master bedroom; some comic and action violence such as dog ejects cat from chair, dog chases cat and whips cat around on its tail, bigger dogs scare other dogs, dogs surf, running dog flips man twice, dogs chase each other and upset people on stage, dogs fall through sinkhole, and man and dog hang on for dear life in a flood at an aqueduct; no sex; no nudity; no alcohol; no smoking but jokes about a few dogs in dog park getting high by eating mushrooms growing near trees and drug joke about dog and cat getting tranquilized before riding in a plane; and, lying, dog holds wild party at house when family goes away for weekend, and father becomes absorbed in his job.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Marmaduke wants to be popular so badly that he forgets his friends. When has the desire to fit in tempted you to compromise your integrity?
Proverbs 29:25 · Galatians 1:10The movie emphasizes supporting and helping family and friends. What does love look like in your family when someone has made a serious mistake?
Galatians 6:1–2 · Colossians 3:13Phil must face the danger of letting work interfere with family commitments. How can your family protect time and attention for one another?
Ephesians 5:25 · 1 Timothy 5:8Marmaduke learns to seek forgiveness. Why can admitting wrong be difficult, and what makes forgiveness possible?
Proverbs 28:13 · Ephesians 4:32The Final Word
Marmaduke is a funny, warmhearted family comedy with strong values about loyalty, integrity, forgiveness, and family commitment. Its middle sags, and its mild questionable humor calls for parents’ discernment with younger children. For older children and adults, it is WORTH THE TRIP.
