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| Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep are the old married couple in David Frankel's Hope Springs |
Hope Springs is a romantic dramedy about Kay and Arnold, a couple married for 31 years, who have lost the spark in their marriage. Kay is the one bothered by this, and she gives her husband a subtle ultimatum about them going to an intensive therapy retreat in Maine. Once there, they work to get out of their crisis, which has been building up for years.
Hope Springs is surprisingly brilliant: I expected a lighter, more comedic and less real look at marriage problems and therapy, but instead, David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada (2006)) lets the drama of the story and the characters have the scene, and the outcome is a very timely and enveloping movie about growing set in a marriage, - and trying to get free again, - together.
Tommy Lee Jones (In the Valley of Elah (2007)) is perfect as grumpy, insecure, but (under it all) sweet Arnold, and Steve Carell (The 40 Year-Old Virgin (2005)) totally nails his part as a compassionate and skilled marriage counselor. He could easily have drawn attention away from the main part of the film, - Kay and Arnold, - goofing it up, but Carell and Frankel never let this happen. - Wise.
- Because the emotional core of Hope Springs is secured in Kay and Arnold, and particularly due to Meryl Streep (The Hours (2002)), who gives a stellar performance so real and particular to her character that it took my breath away. She plays the woman, who has struggled with an unaffectionate husband and her own passivity and now finally finds herself utterly lonely, as she drags him along to work things out, doubting the future of their marriage, as she does.
The film is surprisingly confrontational and the crisis lasts almost to the very end of the film, where we desperately want the two to find each other, as the title and design of the film also seems to promise, (and of course, how could they not in a big Hollywood production?)
Frankel has made another smart choice by having nice music that is more upbeat, but never annoyingly so or overly 'smart', to brighten up the drama a little.
In the end, Hope Springs is, obviously, a hopeful and happy experience; enveloping for its 100 minutes runtime and profound in its portrayal of modern marriage and some of its long-term issues. The film is an ode to romance and keeping romance alive in a long marriage, and I loved every minute of it.
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| Steve Carell is convincing in an almost purely dramatic part as the professional therapist in David Frankel's Hope Springs |
The rich, intelligent script is written by a young woman, Vanessa Taylor, who enjoys success at the moment with her latest script for Divergent (2014). She has also written on Game of Thrones, Alias and other TV-series.
In small, supporting roles, Jean Smart, Elisabeth Shue and Brett Rice are all competent and believable without ever stealing away much attention from Streep or Jones.
The Maine setting (filmed in a coastal Connecticut village) is picturesque and looks like a nice place to visit. The look of the production is a far step from Streep's recent It's Complicated (2009), which is also a very funny and good film, because in Springs, we are brought more down to earth and get more reality: The characters of Kay and Arnold are written a bit like a Mr. and Mrs. John Q America, and their issues are also middle-of-the-road and not too specific, making them very relatable, - and Jones and Streep account for their likability at all times. I didn't find one unrealistic scene in the film. It has one scene in a movie theater involving some heavy intimacy that could be played for raunchiness or ridiculous laughs, but isn't; instead this scene epitomizes why Hope Springs is such a fine movie, and you have to see it to understand why. It is strong and truthful.
Hope Springs holds plenty of laughs as well as touching moments, as when the sessions get more intimate, and the couple's sex life and lack of one gets to be the topic of discussion. They are both very awkward talking about this and being intimate again, and it is quite wonderful to observe.
Ultimately, this is not a visually striking masterpiece, but a film that wins with its tremendous performances that get their appropriate space in a very fine script, handled with the utmost competence by all involved. Bravo!
Hope Springs hasn't gotten the positive attention that it deserves, I think, but I think it will stand the test of time and be reassessed and valued higher by many in years to come. There's only one thing to say:
Watch it!
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| Meryl Streep in another triumphant performance, in David Frankel's Hope Springs |
Watch the film's trailer here
Budget: 30 mil. $
Box office: 114.2 mil. $
= Big hit
What do you think of Hope Springs?
Do you agree that it is an undervalued gem of a movie?
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