ilm: Married Life (Drama)
Cast: Chris Cooper, Pierce Brosnan, Rachel McAdams, Patricia Clarkson
Direction: Ira Sachs
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
Very early in the film, Pierce Brosnan describes marriage as a mild kind of infection, somewhat akin to flu or chicken pox and thanks destiny for never having caught this infection himself. Get the picture. Ira Sach's taut thriller is a no-holds-barred look into the seamier side of this hallowed institution where there's so little that so many people know about their spouses. Psychologists and marriage counsellors mostly ascribe the success of this institution to two main factors: secrets and lies.
Set against the genteel 1940s, this comedy of misdemeanours unfolds through a treacherous web of adultery, deceit and murder. Middle-aged Chris Cooper lives out the American dream with his beautiful wife, Patricia Clarkson, who has proved to be the perfect wife through all the tumultuous years of settling in and settling down. Life seems to be on song for this happily married couple, until Cooper lifts the veils off the chinks in the armour. The hitherto dutiful husband has actually been involved in an adulterous relationship with the gentle and uber feminine widow, Rachel McAdams and wants to opt out of his cold and formal marriage. Now that's not an easy situation for conscience-stricken Cooper who has two problems. First, he respects his wife too much to leave her hurting with the tag of a divorcee and second, he has Pierce Brosnan, a completely rakish philanderer friend who falls in love with Cooper's girl friend and wants her for himself. So, on the one hand, you have husband Cooper brewing a complicated plot which involves killing his wife, to spare her the agony of heartbreak and divorce -- a kind of mercy killing. And on the other, you have Brosnan deviously trying to abort the illicit love story and kick start his own with the platinum blonde widow with the irresistible scarlet pout.
The film is a gripping insight into the evil that often tinges adult emotions and unfolds like a languorous thriller, where danger always seems to be lurking round the corner. While Chris Cooper is always a delight to watch with his ability to touch rare depths in a character -- he retains your sympathy, even while plotting his wife's murder -- it is Pierce Brosnan who boldly walks out of the shadow of James Bond. Another successful attempt to break the Bond-age after The Tailor of Panama.
Cast: Chris Cooper, Pierce Brosnan, Rachel McAdams, Patricia Clarkson
Direction: Ira Sachs
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
Very early in the film, Pierce Brosnan describes marriage as a mild kind of infection, somewhat akin to flu or chicken pox and thanks destiny for never having caught this infection himself. Get the picture. Ira Sach's taut thriller is a no-holds-barred look into the seamier side of this hallowed institution where there's so little that so many people know about their spouses. Psychologists and marriage counsellors mostly ascribe the success of this institution to two main factors: secrets and lies.
Set against the genteel 1940s, this comedy of misdemeanours unfolds through a treacherous web of adultery, deceit and murder. Middle-aged Chris Cooper lives out the American dream with his beautiful wife, Patricia Clarkson, who has proved to be the perfect wife through all the tumultuous years of settling in and settling down. Life seems to be on song for this happily married couple, until Cooper lifts the veils off the chinks in the armour. The hitherto dutiful husband has actually been involved in an adulterous relationship with the gentle and uber feminine widow, Rachel McAdams and wants to opt out of his cold and formal marriage. Now that's not an easy situation for conscience-stricken Cooper who has two problems. First, he respects his wife too much to leave her hurting with the tag of a divorcee and second, he has Pierce Brosnan, a completely rakish philanderer friend who falls in love with Cooper's girl friend and wants her for himself. So, on the one hand, you have husband Cooper brewing a complicated plot which involves killing his wife, to spare her the agony of heartbreak and divorce -- a kind of mercy killing. And on the other, you have Brosnan deviously trying to abort the illicit love story and kick start his own with the platinum blonde widow with the irresistible scarlet pout.
The film is a gripping insight into the evil that often tinges adult emotions and unfolds like a languorous thriller, where danger always seems to be lurking round the corner. While Chris Cooper is always a delight to watch with his ability to touch rare depths in a character -- he retains your sympathy, even while plotting his wife's murder -- it is Pierce Brosnan who boldly walks out of the shadow of James Bond. Another successful attempt to break the Bond-age after The Tailor of Panama.
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