Directed by David Frankel.
2012. Rated PG-13, 100 minutes.
Cast:
Ben Rappaport
Marin Ireland
Brett Rice
Mimi Rogers
Ann Harada
Kay (Streep) has been married to Arnold (Jones) for
thirty-one years. For at least the last four, every day has been exactly the
same. They eat a quick breakfast before going off to their separate jobs, and a
quick dinner when they return home. He then proceeds to fall asleep watching
The Golf Channel while she cleans the dishes. When she’s done, she wakes him
and he retires to the guest room. She sleeps in the master bedroom. Needless to
say, the sparks are no longer flying. In an effort to change this, Kay makes
reservations for the two to spend a week in Maine where they will see Dr. Feld
(Carell), a famous marriage counselor. Even though he doesn't see anything
wrong with their relationship, Arnold reluctantly goes along. By the way, he is
also a grumpy penny-pincher whose favorite activity is complaining. A very
tough week for the couple ensues.
The best thing that can be said about Hope
Springs is that Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones really feel like
two people who have been together for three plus decades. They each inhabit
their characters fully and let us understand who these people are. We get to
know them as thoroughly as they should know each other, but don’t. It helps
that we have all known couple like this. They have been together so long, they
don’t know anything else. Some of us are that couple. In them, we recognize our
own hopes and fears of what marriage will be like once the nest empties.
Right away, Kay is established as the more sympathetic
figure. It is easy to see that her frustrations are not only born of her
husband’s cluelessness, but of his comfortableness with the way things are. For
him, sleeping in separate beds and barely talking to his wife beyond greetings
and salutations are merely facts of life. That’s simply the way it is. Of
course she desires a deeper connection, both physically and emotionally. She
just needs help communicating this. We feel her pain.
To the movie’s credit, it doesn't just attack the problem
from one angle. Eventually, we get into why things have gotten this way from
Arnold’s point of view. It’s fitting that it takes a good portion of the movie to
get to this because he is not a guy given to expressing any feelings that make
him appear vulnerable. He’s the proverbial turnip we’re trying to draw blood
from. This works wonderfully as we begin to sympathize with him more and more
as the film progresses.
Though billed as a rom-com, Hope
Springs is much more “dramedy” than anything else. There is lots of
angst, some hurt feelings and tears shed. The focus is really on this authentic
feeling marriage and whether it can be fixed, not on a succession of jokes. We
do get some laughs. Most of them come from Arnold’s incessant grumbling. He is
our dad, or grand-dad, and nothing is ever quite good enough or cheap enough
for him. Kay is our mother, or grandmother. She’s sweet as pie and struggles to
keep it together when she’s upset. We love her to death, but she rarely makes
us laugh. The only other character of consequence is Dr. Feld. Steve Carell
plays the role surprisingly straight.
This is a movie that hits a lot of right notes and has two
marvelous performances. In the end, it comes across as more lightweight than it
actually is. Therefore, almost no one will rank this among the best from either
actor. That’s a shame because while I don’t think this is a truly great movie, I think they are both great in it. I also fear
there is probably a clear line of demarcation separating those who will enjoy
it and those who will not. I’d set that line at about age thirty-five and
having been in at least one long-term monogamous relationship. In other words,
use another Meryl Streep vehicle, It’s Complicated, as a
guide. If that’s not your cup of tea, don’t sip from this one, either.
MY SCORE: 7/10
