Letting loose with a lightweight bark, "Marmaduke" barely sits pretty enough.

The live-action film based on the ever-popular newspaper comic strip created by former Vista resident Brad Anderson plays things silly-naughty much of the time, in a wayward toddler sort of way. Many 4-year-olds demand more sophistication than "Marmaduke" provides.

It's bottom-line messages concerning family, friendship and loyalty ring true enough, though, and the occasional funny business helps when the comedy doesn't become too eager and distressed.

In this outing, "Marmaduke" can speak, as can all the many animals in the film, though only the other animals can hear and understand the words. The big Great Dane is nestled happily with his Kansas family, a little oafish and sometimes vaguely annoying, but also quite lovable.

When the family moves to Orange County so that father Phil (Lee Pace) can work his marketing skills for a wealthy dog-lover and organic dog-food distributor, played with relish by William H. Macy, things start to fall apart a little. Teen daughter Barbara is having communication issues with dad, and dad is also having trouble connecting to his wife Debbie (Judy Greer), the woman who is keeping things together.

The story, though, is mostly about Marmaduke, voiced by Owen Wilson, who tries to fit in at the neighborhood dog park, but has trouble with a bully dog and must overcome his clumsiness. He gets along with most of the animals, though, develops a canine-crush on one of them, and is often helped in a pinch by family cat Carlos, voiced by George Lopez, given most of the best one-liners.

When Marmaduke's trouble-prone ways collide with dad's best intentions, there is much confusion, and even some danger, before calm is settled and order restored in the doggie universe. "Marmaduke" struggles too often to find its way as a savvy comedy, and we've seen the talking-animal thing often, with decidedly mixed results. It's not a film that could hold the attention of any age demographic long, though certainly we can call it amiable, despite, you know, the frequent poop jokes and stuff. Otherwise, it's friendly enough.

"Marmaduke"

** 1/2 (out of four)

Starring Lee Pace, Judy Greer, William H. Macy; and featuring the voices of Owen Wilson and George Lopez

Director: Tom Dey

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Rated: PG (for some mild rude humor)

Running Time: 89 minutes