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| Courtesy of Sony |
Instead,
director David Frankel (reteaming with his star from The Devil Wears Prada)
and rookie screenwriter Vanessa Taylor have crafted an intricate and
surprisingly frank portrayal of a couple trying to save their 30-year marriage
after a lengthy period of neglect. Of course when you’ve got amazing actors
like Streep and Jones playing the spouses, it heightens the realism significantly.
Streep
plays Kay, a woman who loves her husband but realizes that things have grown
stale since their kids grew up and moved out several years ago (sleeping in
separate bedrooms is probably the biggest clue). Arnold (Jones) is the “ignore
the problem and it’ll go away” type. He knows the spark went out of their
relationship a long time ago, but he figures they’ve been in it this long,
might as well hang in there.
Not
content to simply run out the clock, Kay books a weeklong, in-depth counseling session
with renowned therapist Dr. Bernard Feld (Steve Carell, in a wonderfully
low-key performance). Arnold begrudgingly tags along, which marks their first
step on what could be a better life together. But Dr. Feld tells them up front
that repairing their marriage will take a lot of hard work from both sides. Kay
is clearly up for the challenge; the big question is whether Arnold is ready to
put in the effort.
Movies
rarely surprise me anymore, but I was happy to be wrong about Hope Springs. I
walked into the theater expecting to be subjected to lazy comedy of the “isn’t old
people having sex hilarious?!” variety. Instead, I got a mostly straightforward
look at a relationship on the brink of collapse. Granted, that sounds like it
would be depressing to sit through. But the absolutely stellar work by Streep,
Jones and Carell, along with smart choices by Frankel and Taylor, make the 100
minutes fly by.
Praising
Streep’s acting ability is practically cliché by now, but I don’t have a choice
when she keeps being so doggone good. She went from playing the fierce Margaret
Thatcher (the movie was called The Iron Lady, for crying out loud) to the quiet,
unassuming Kay and each role is equally Oscar-worthy. Her consistency is just insane.
I
don’t know who lit a fire under Jones, but he delivers his best performance in
years (after having some fun stealing scenes in Captain America and delivering
unexpectedly emotional work in Men in Black 3). He gets most of the film’s
laughs, but he’ll probably wring a couple of tears from your eyes as well. A
Best Actor nomination isn’t out of the question.
I’ve
got a feeling Hope Springs is going to be one of the summer’s biggest
surprise hits. The movie’s target demo doesn’t traditionally head to the
theater on opening weekend, but word of mouth is going to be huge. Look for the
film to play well into the fall, but don’t wait that long to see it.
Hope Springs is rated
PG-13 for mature thematic content involving sexuality.
Grade:
B+
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