‘Hope Springs’ Review

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I went into this movie assuming it would be a complete “chick flick,” but the performance by Tommy Lee Jones brought so much more to the role of the “bully” of a husband that it held my attention better than some movies about marriage.  His costar is, of course, the incomparable Meryl Streep.  They are both supported by Steve Carell as the marriage counselor who attempts to save their crumbling marriage.

The film is undoubtedly formulaic.  We can guess what’s about to happen before it does it nearly every scene; there is the rare exception to that, but overall it’s not a mysterious movie.  Jones plays Arnold and Streep plays Kay who have been married for 31 years but who do not sleep in the same room anymore and haven’t had intimate relations in nearly five years.  Kay is desperately unhappy and goes in search of a self-help book on marriage when she comes across one written by Carell’s character, Dr. Feld.  She pays for a trip to Maine where Feld is located and gives her husband a ticket, leaving the decision to go with her up to him.  He makes the decision to go which is the first of many steps he and she will go thru in their effort to reconnect thru intensive couples therapy.

The film’s most interesting and poignant moments are in the therapy sessions themselves as Dr. Feld gets “down and dirty” with questions aimed at detailing their intimacy and sexual issues.  While both are uncomfortable talking about certain aspects of their relationship, Arnold is out-right mad about the therapy and doesn’t participate as he should.  It’s in these moments, and a few others when the couple engages in homework exercises assigned by Feld, that Jones presents us with an angry man who has repressive many if not all of his emotions.  Jones, not Streep, is the key to this film as he plays perhaps the most vulnerable character we’ve ever seen him play.  There are a few chuckles at what occurs between Arnold and Kay, but it’s more of a dramedy than either a straight drama or comedic film.

All three principal cast members hit all the right notes which is relatively easy for Streep as it seemed she’s been down some of this territory before (and done so much better on occasion).  Jones is the real standout as a man confused about what or who is wife is or wants to be and who she thinks he is and wants him to be.  Carell is there as a completely straight actor providing much-needed guidance for Arnold and Kay in an attempt to salvage what’s left of their marriage.

The film breaks no new ground, but it’s nice to see a film about a couple of their ages who are struggling to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it.  There’s nothing earthshattering about the production.  It has none of the zing that David Frankel’s last Streep film did – The Devil Wears Prada.  In fact, the greatest thing going for this movie is the normalcy of the characters and the idea that so many more marriages are like this that we know, especially we single people who have never been married.

I can recommend the film to discerning viewers of sentimentalist movies that enjoy Streep and Jones’ work on film.  But for other more mainstream viewers, this movie is just too straightforward and not very well-paced and so those viewers should probably stay clear of it.  Again, the recommendation is to see Jones in action, especially during key scenes where he must talk about sex or engage in intimacy exercise with Streep.  If you have nothing else to do and want an easy-to-follow film that doesn’t make you think much – unless you’ve also been married for 30 years and can relate – then I do recommend seeing this film.  It may cause you to think just enough about your own marriage to do it some good.  I can say that the film ends rather abruptly with Arnold falling for Kay again, but there’s little connection between the therapy and his decision to do so – at least, not any truly obvious connection.