Meryl
Streep and Tommy
Lee Jones attempt to rekindle their romance
after 39 years of marriage in the comedy-drama, HOPE SPRINGS.
Streep and
Jones are Kay and Arnold, a not-so-happily married couple who no longer sleep
in the same bed or eat breakfast together, and more or less live two separate
lives under the same roof. After reading a book on marriage and romance
by Dr. Feld, a marriage counselor played by Steve Carrell, Kay decides it’s
time for her and Arnold to pay a visit to Dr. Feld in his hometown of
Maine.
After much reluctance and grumbling, Arnold decides to make the
trip for couple's counseling.
Dissecting
relationships, let alone senior citizens, is not something Hollywood is
accustomed to. The boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back
story line is an ironclad one which has been safe, profitable and an overall
winning formula for studios and their audiences. HOPE SPRINGS breaks the
mold, exploring what has happened to boy and girl after the wedding vows, kids,
biological changes and other transformations in a married couple’s
relationship.
Funny, smart and observant HOPE SPRINGS does what most comedies and romances fail to do, finding the humor and heart in life’s smaller moments. Whether it’s Arnold’s tight financial ways or Kay’s reluctance to speak up, writer Vanessa Taylor and director David Frankel embrace the humor found in these two former lovers systematic approach to the institution of marriage.
It doesn’t hurt that HOPE SPRINGS casts the two most ideal candidates for the lead roles. Streep, who has recently played domineering roles from Margaret Thatcher to Miranda Priestly, shows her softer side again, as a heartwarming, but no less insistent wife. Jones isn’t as rugged and tough as his movie mantra has been in the past, but he still taps into the stubbornness that is evident in all of his roles. Pride still comes to the forefront in Arnold, but is reflected as a weakness, one which Jones milks for not only sympathy, but laughs.
HOPE SPRINGS is a refreshingly frank, honest and humor-filled look at a couple that’s trying to find that loving feeling again.
Grade: B
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