*I share no details that are not obvious in previews.*
On Sunday Ken and I saw the movie Hope Springs. Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones look their ages in complex, adult performances that are worthy of a mature audience. There were moments when tension on screen rendered the theater you-could-hear-a-pin-drop quiet.
It is long past due time that a movie like this has been made.
Kay and Arnold have been married 31 years. She works at Coldwater Creek [I need to finally use that coupon] and he is an accountant. They have a beautiful home.
The reviews of the movie that I've seen summarize the surface premise of the movie. They call it a dramedy. There was a woman in the theater who laughed uproariously are regular intervals, often the only sound heard because the rest of us did not find the truth of the story funny. The couple on screen act out the reality of many middle-aged couples in this country. Their not knowing how to get past the apparent indifference is hard to watch. The fact that Kay is so desperate to try speaks volumes about what she has invested. The fact that Arnold goes with her to Maine illustrates that he understands how serious Kay is about this trip. The hardest thing to watch, and possibly the truest element of the movie, is that there is no guarantee that there will be a happy ending.
I think the movie should be rated R, not because of explicit language or nudity but because of the mature subject matter. The writer, the director, and the actors, including Steve Carell, honestly deal with issues of a couple who have been married three decades.
I would recommend the movie for all middle-aged married couples.
If you haven't faced the problems that Kay and Arnold have, it will give you a look at what some couples are dealing with behind closed doors, too embarrassed to share their unhappiness with anyone, even each other.
If you recognize Kay and Arnold's situation, it helps to know that other couples have experiences similar to yours.
Ken and I enjoyed the movie. We recognize the distance apart that Kay and Arnold are feeling, and we know what it feels like to not know how the story ends. For us, for now, we are in a good place. The movie is a good reminder that it takes work to stay here.
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1 comment:
I saw this with a friend and loved it. Several years ago, my marriage went through something similar but not nearly as hardcore as what these characters have been through. It was a little blip, but it took months to work out and I was surprised at how difficult it was to talk about the topic to a man I had been married to for over 20 years. But talk it out we did, and so when I saw the film, I felt like that could have been us, had we not spoken up about our issues before they became the new normal. I loved the story for itself, too. Next up is the one with Susan Sarandon and Diane Keaton!
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