Review: Married Life

Director: Ira Sachs (The Delta)
Writers: Ira Sachs, Oren Moverman
Producers: Steve Golin, Sidney Kimmel, Jawal Nga, Ira Sachs
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson, Rachel McAdams, David Richmond-Peck
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running time: 90 min

It’s not surprising that in today’s day and age there seems to be a fascination with the 1940s and 50s, a time when family was of utmost importance, divorce was nearly unheard of, men worked while women stayed home to mind the family and perhaps most importantly, a time when emotions weren’t openly expressed. In 2002, Todd Haynes paid tribute to the Douglas Sirk’s weepies with the fantastic Far From Heaven and on the surface, it seems as though director Ira Sachs is attempting a similar feat with Married Life, with a key change.

Where as the traditional melodramas focused primarily on the lives of women, Sachs centers his film on Harry Allen (Chris Cooper), a seemingly successful business owner in crisis. Unhappy with his married life, he begins an affair with Kay, a younger woman (Rachel McAdams), and decides that rather than leave his wife (Patricia Clarkson) - he can’t bear the pain of seeing her suffer on her own - he chooses to kill her. A wrench is thrown into his plan after he introduces his girlfriend to his best friend Richard (Pierce Brosnan) who, in turn, falls in love and marries her. The entire story simmers with controlled emotion, which culminates into an ugly breakup between Harry and Kay and subsequently, Harry’s tense drive home.

My first thought walking out of Married Life was that the film was strongly performed but lacking real punch but now that it has sat for a few days, I’m starting to see the brilliance in it. Technically, the film looks wonderful and is accompanied by a style appropriate soundtrack but it lacks the gorgeous pallet and visual flare of Haynes’ tribute. What, on further though, makes Sachs’ film so wonderful is the way in which it flips the tables on what we expect from this type of film. Rather than following the emotional but strong woman, the film focuses most of its attention on Harry and though one would expect him to be an effeminate, overly emotional man which at times, he does play, the subplot which is put into play shows that he is far more conniving than we initially give him credit for and makes the viewer question just how weak he really is.

Though it sports some excellent performances, particularly from Chris Cooper who outperforms everyone else and walks the line between man in control and basketcase, and Pierce Brosnan who seems to have been transported directly from a classic melodrama, the film has one major flaw: a voice over that appears to make little sense and which was particularly grating towards the end of the film. It starts off with Richard retelling the events of the story but as we see it unfold, it’s quickly apparent that he neither saw or was aware of how Harry’s master plan would unfold – so how is he able to retell the story as we see it? It’s a small issue but as the credits rolled, it was a problem I kept coming back to.

Married Life is a surprising film. Though my initial reaction was one of mild recommendation, at closer examination it’s clear that director and co-writer Ira Sachs has a whole lot more at play here than I initially gave him credit for. The film is an obvious throwback to the now much admired melodramas of the past but rather than an homage, Sachs has taken that old tradition and successfully made it his own to tell a suspenseful crime drama.

Links:
IMDb profile
Official Site
Flixster Profile for Married Life