2012. Dir: David Frankel. Starring: Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell, Jean Smart and Elisabeth Shue. ●●●○○
Hope Springs is a film about middle aged couples sleeping. Admittedly there's a lot of chat about sex, a few love-making scenes played largely for laughs, and ostensibly the plot hangs on an intensive couples counselling course for frustrated housewife Meryl Streep and her stand-offish hubby Tommy Lee Jones. Yet the most significant change appears to relate to their night-time arrangements with Jones starting the film in the spare bedroom and moving back to the master suite by the closing credits (it's not a spoiler, were you honestly expecting divorce papers?) and the action is punctuated by Jones dropping off either in front of the TV or on the sofa-bed. This is a helpful hint to the viewer. It's OK to fall asleep during this movie. Go on, close your eyes, you won't miss anything...
Note, I am not saying David Frankel's film is boring (even if at 100 minutes it slightly outstays it's welcome) just that the movie is so relaxed, so gentle it doesn't seem to care if you nod off. Indeed it's almost designed that way.
Something is clearly wrong in Kay and Arnold's 31 year marriage. Meryl, as Kay, is ruffling her hair and adjusting her nightgown to entice Jones to an evening of sexual indulgence. Alas he's not in the mood - he even has a headache if you can believe it - so Meryl must return frustrated and flustered to her boudoir. The morning after, with it's lack of eye-contact and air of officious routine highlights the steady decline in their relationship, and seems to be the norm, unrelated to the previous night's snub. Spontaneity, romance, even those tiny signals of affection have all deserted Tommy Lee Jones in his twilight years.
Realising it's up to her to break the monotony, Meryl books the couple couple into an intensive course of relationship counselling (focusing on sex) under the watchful gaze of subdued Steve Carell. Over the course of therapy our wedded pair must remind each other of why they originally fell in love, away from the hustle and bustle of their schedules in the Maine town of Great Hope Springs. In order to reignite that spark Jones will have to face up to his bullying attitude and inability to address his own insecurities and fear of intimacy, whilst Streep will allow her confidence to blossom, opening up avenues in her sexuality.
Except that's not quite what happens. Like most therapy related movies the denouement is rushed to make the point - the problems in this marriage couldn't be fixed in five days, surely? So when they do have sex again it's not the fumble on the cinema back row, the champagne and strawberries or even the introspection and analysis that appear to be the catalyst. Instead it's Jones' fear of loneliness and the overbearing Annie Lennox singing "Why" on the soundtrack which is then dressed up as the answer to all their problems. Of course Jones still can't admit to his hangups and Streep has developed a shrewish streak, but in the world of Hope Springs they're finally shagging giving us the happy ending we want.
Streep and Jones make an interesting coupling. They're at their best when the two of them are alone, relying on their physicality more than the dialogue, able to reveal intense and significant shared histories through a glance, the smallest of gestures or the briefest of touches. Unfortunately when they have to connect with other cast members, especially during the counselling, Jones plays the "I don't want to be there" card so convincingly I thought he meant the film and Streep is working the facial tic for two - there's one scene where I swear she was about to launch into her Shakespeare monologue she was emoting so much. Thankfully Carell has the balance right, projecting genuine concern with just the right touch of forcefulness when required.
Frankel doesn't make his presence behind the camera known but there are some nice touches vis a vis the staging, with a story being told purely in the positions the lead couple take up at the counselling sessions. It's a shames the mood is occasionally jarred by the over-insistent soundtrack, painfully on-the-nose it appears to have been selected with i-pod shuffle on a fifty something's easy listening playlist.
Overall, in spite of all my misgivings, I did enjoy this movie. There are times in every relationship where you aren't getting the sex (either frequency or variation) you want so the central conceit resonates. However the film is neither a knock out sex farce nor the tragedy of a disillusioned marriage that it could be and going either way on that may have improved the overall experience. I would wait until it's showing on TV, and sit in front of it digesting a hearty meal. You might take 40 winks in the middle but the film doesn't seem to mind and the effect of being woken up by Streep talking about oral sex can't be underestimated.
Wednesday, 19 September 2012
Hope Springs
Saturday, 7 January 2012
The Blogger's not for Turning (Out this week - 06/01/11)
And we're back. An all new style of presenting the out this week column, with trailers attached. Note that I watch all the trailers, and I fully encourage taking a look at some if they are films you're not immediately interested in seeing. Luckily I'm also back in time for one of the most controversial releases in some time, dividing the friends and enemies of the former Prime Minister at the centre of the piece in loving and loathing this big screen adaptation of her life, and not always in ways you expect. Film is the week is unsurprisingly The Iron Lady.
Of the new releases there's no doubt that Meryl Streep's uncanny impersonation will lead the field in terms of box office clout, although I suspect Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol will remain the box office champion when all is counted up.
The Iron Lady
Hagiography or hatchet job, that might depend on your opinion of Thatcherism, the defining economic policy of the 80's. Personally I approve of some aspects of small Government and de-regulated industry, even if I disagree with the pursuit of low inflation at the cost of employment or most of the bleak social policies of the period and I am generally confused with the persistent hatred of Margaret by modern-day freedom movement protesters who weren't even born during her tenure. By all accounts though the movie soft-pedals the politics of the Tory Government and dovetails key points in her life (with little or no context) with a frail old woman struggling to buy milk. Distasteful and irrelevant I refuse to see this film in cinemas - although it's possible I'll pick it up later in the year and review then.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●●○○
Mother and Child
What I will be seeing is Rodrigo Garcia's family melodrama starring Annette Bening, Naomi Watts and Kerry Washington as three women affected by adoption trying to make sense of their lives.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●○○○○
Players
The first of our Bollywood releases for the week is this Hindi thriller about an accountant who leads a double life as a master criminal about to commit the biggest Gold heist of all time. It certainly looks like they're not holding back with the action.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Goon
Seann William Scott's career has been on a surprise downward trajectory for some time, following the breakout success in American Pie many people thought he was going places, however the momentum has stuttered to a halt until he finds himself in this sports comedy (always the last refuge of a failing actor) actually the TV spots and reviews paint it as sweeter and funnier than I'm ranking it but this trailer does no good at all.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Uchithanai Muharnthaal
Tamil movie which confronts the widespread brutalisation of Sri Lankan women during the civil war and the continued mistrust of immigrants into India. Although oddly all I could think of watching the trailer is whether the distracting movement of the frame was deliberate.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Meryl Streep
Happy Birthday to
Meryl Streep
62 today
I am really worried about Meryl's role as Margaret Thatcher in the upcoming Iron Lady, reuniting her with Mamma Mia director Phyllidia Lloyd. I am concerned about the tone the movie may follow, given that it's concentrating on one of the most controversial periods (Falklands) of the Prime Minister's turbulent career, and it could veer from flag-waving populism to selective conservatism. Of course the campaign for Streep's 3rd Oscar (from 17 nods) has already started. To be honest I'm more interested in her struggling marriage to Tommy Lee Jones, set to be dissected in Great Hope Springs next year.
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
It's Complicated
2009. Dir: Nancy Meyers. Starring: Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin, John Krasinski and Lake Bell. ●●○○○
The best thing about a nice romantic comedy is that all it takes is a simple story told reasonably well to make the film a tremendous success. After all we don't want much, just some touching moments as the protagonists slowly realise their feelings for each other. Unfortunately Nancy Meyers does her very best to take a simple story and twists in additional plotlines and characters to such an extent that it can no longer be a joy. It's Complicated, you see.
The basic premise sees divorcee Meryl Streep find herself falling back in lust with her former husband Alec Baldwin following a drunken night of passion. This leads to a torrid affair which must be kept secret from Baldwin's broody second wife, the couple's 20 somethings children and the architect currently vying for Meryl's affection (played by Steve Martin).
I actually quite like the premise, in the centre there's an interesting question about whether you can fall out of love with someone. Meryl and Alec have a shared history together and apart, they know the best and worst sides of each other's temprament, and yet they find themselves inexplicably drawn together again. Perhaps if we just had these two finding each other again then it would have worked. However we have to sit through interminable superfluous scenes. There's the divorced women's flan nights, the therapy session (I really hated that scene) and the long stretches at the Baldwin household. Even the tentative romance with Martin seems to be tacked on the side - perhaps only as a hint of a happy ending for Meryl.
There are some every funny moments - the hotel scene is done with a proper eye for farce and the set up for the family lunch is equally humourous. Both of thee benefit hugely from the performance of John Krasinski (as the future son-in-law) taking the audience surrogate role. Later the whole weed section is well played by all involved. But all of these scenes are so separated by extra rubbish that they are lessened. The whole maxim that every film benefits from cutting half an hour can only be proven by looking at It's Complicated.
There have been a large number of gripes from the critics that the characters in Meyer's work are so removed from relaity that it's impossible to identify with them. And whilst it's true that the porsche driving lawyers and extension building bakery store owners have little in common with me I find that I can easily grasp the dilemmas they have that are important to the thrust of the story. I honestly don't believe that the film would have benefitted if Meryl was fretting about the mortgage payments, in fact the additional struggles would probably have only made the film longer and less interestiong. This also goes for the annoying children - it's clear that their response to finding out about the affair is a critique on modern divorce, especially in wealthy society. These kids, who appear to have been spoiled rotten by both their parents, are merely reacting in the ways that fits their personas - however weird crying together in bed seems.
John Krasinski is clearly the stand-out performer, but that's probable because he always gets the best scenes (and does a great worried look). Alec Baldwin is also great as the philandering father. Meryl is deeply disappointing, opting to over-complicate her performance in order to match the film. We get that she's conflicted by the situation, but she never allows herself to simply say a line without her voice betraying those mixed feelings.
Overall this was a fun few hours, but with significant editing and a more focussed approach it could have been much much better.
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Doubt
2008. Dir: John Patrick Shanley. Starring: Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Viola Davis and Joseph Foster. ●●●○○
In the end this weekend I chose to see the peadophile priest film, mainly because it was on at the best time to fit with my rehearsal schedule. I was looking forward to it, mind. The combination of highly buzzed performances from the main cast and an adaptation of a Tony award winning Broadway hit.
In case you aren't aware of the basic plot it revolves around a titanic battle between the headmistress of a Roman Catholic bronx school (Sister Aloysius, played by Meryl Streep) and Father Flynn (Hoffman) a modernising Priest, ostensibly over an alleged incident of molestation against a black pupil, although there are many reasons why the pair don't really interact. Adams plays a novice caught between the titans and Viola Davis plays the boys mother, who just wants him to survive in the school until the end of the academic year.
It is important that the incident is only alleged, as one of the key selling ponts of the one-act play was that the audience went home questioning and doubting the guilt or innocence of Father Flynn. As I walked out of the cinema I did have my doubts, my I suspect that I was more one way than the other. This is largely due to the opening out of the film to include the boy (Foster) as well as a supporting cast of rebellious school children and frail nuns.
It's not uncommon for a film adaptation of a play to introduce new characters, and I can certainly see why it was done. Unlike, say Closer or Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe, Doubt is defined by the relationships between the characters you see and the characters you don't in the play. This can work on the stage but in film the limitations are different. As a result there are a number of quick moments between Donald and Flynn where you spend the time thinking "Is Father Flynn buggering the boys?" It simply cannot be helped.
The last ten minutes between Streep and Hoffman/Adams also seem to push you in one direction.
There were also some elements of the screenplay that felt heavy handed in the adaptation. Storms, lightbulbs blowing, etc. So God is unhappy, we get it, no need to overdo the imagery.
The performances from Streep, Hoffman and Davis are uniformly excellent. I was less enamoured with Adams, her cloying naiveity seemingly a odds with her position. As a consequence I found the last scene where Sister Aloysius opens out to Sister James at odds with the way the characters had been playing around each other up to that point.
Hoffman's monologue like sermons were also very effective, as anyone who has regularly attended Church will tell you the way a Priest addresses the congregation varies significantly. Hoffman was confident and firm, maybe even stand offish, which certainly informed the rest of his performance. I disliked the imagined story in the second sermon - I felt we could have done better by just watching the protagonists as they respond to his words.
Aside from the perfomances there is very little to recommend the film. The cinematography was generally dull, and the decision to do some shots angling the camera was frankly jarring and took me away from the action. There was little to work with on sets and costumes (for nuns and schools, everything tends to look the same) but there was an oddly antiseptic feel, like none of the characters were in rooms they frequented often.
Overall I would love to encourage you to see the film, if only for the performances, but to be honest when I left I was thinking I wish I had seen the play. I hope you see the play too.
