Hope Springs
Hope Springs, 2012, USA
Kay (Meryl Streep), and Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones) have been married for 31 years. For the last few years they’ve been sleeping in separate beds and the “spark” is gone from their marriage. Kay is tired of it, so she books them to visit Dr. Bernie Feld (Steve Carell) for a week of intensive couple’s therapy. Arnold attends reluctantly, and is uncomfortable with the revealing questions Dr. Feld asks. Will Dr. Feld help them bring the spark back into their marriage?
It was a decent film. Streep and Jones had a lot of chemistry and it was fun to watch them interact. I had to laugh, because Jones plays a bit of a cantankerous character and I could not help but think of his “grumpy face” at the Golden Globes! Jones certainly has a very serious face and he plays cantankerous characters very well. Carell was excellent as Dr. Feld, too. He really felt like a therapist and he brought some humour to the film too!
The film looks at an issue that admittedly does not receive a whole lot of attention in the media, but does so in a rather playful way. The film is always respectful, though. I appreciated the fact that it was a romantic comedy that did NOT feature twenty-somethings with perfect figures and bikinis. Often we forget that love and romance exist in all stages of life and watching a longtime couple “rediscover” one another was great fun. Plus, Streep will always be gorgeous!
That being said, I think that the film is more for a slightly older demographic. As someone in their twenties, I had some difficulty relating to the relationship issues presented in the film. I still enjoyed the film, but I did not get as much out of it as I may have were I a bit older. I do think that it is worth seeing – regardless of your age, because the performances were delightful and it was a fun, light film.