Married Life

Director: Ira Sachs
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson, Rachel McAdams
Release Date: 1 August 2008
Cert: 12a
Running Time: 90 mins

Set in 1949, Married Life tells the story of Harry(Cooper), who has become so infatuated with his girl on the side, Kay(McAdams), that he decides he must leave his wife Pat(Clarkson). Harry still loves his wife though and doesn’t want her to have to go through the shame of a divorce; so instead he decides to kill her. Harry’s friend Richard(Brosnan) occupies the dual role of narrating the plot to us and starring in a sub plot in which he falls for Kay.

Director, Ira Sachs doesn’t spend long trying to portray a marriage on the rocks. He spells it out pretty quickly. Pat tells Harry that she believes love is sex and that is all. She admits this is strange to him saying, “Perhaps I’m not made like other women”. Harry tells Kay that sex is not enough and he needs to be loved. Cue a few brief scenes of marital boredom and then we get into the meat of the story. These Characterizations along with the idea of a man killing his wife to save her embarrassment leave the film teetering on thin ice believabilitywise but when Rachel McAdams pops up on screen looking like a starlet from the 50s it adds a touch of credibility to the whole thing. She looks amazing and I would definitely consider murder for her.

With this boost to the senses, the movie picks up a bit. Harry begins to plot Pat’s demises and put plans into motion. Meanwhile, Richard is aware that as long as Pat and Harry are married, he has a shot with Kay so begins trying to convince Harry to give his life with Pat another go. The two married characters have very modern personality traits- a woman who is more interested in sex and a man more interested in affection. So why 1949? Married Life takes a lot of influences from melodramas of the 40s and 50s and the makers appear to have been to lazy to put those influences into a modern context.

It is also easier to set a film about a murder in the pre CSI era. The acceptability of divorce these days is another thing the writers were probably keen to avoid. Best to just ignore these and go with idea that the writers love old ficks. Speaking of loving the oldies- Brosnan makes a poor effort at trying to be Dean Martin in this film. It is disappointing that so soon after being Bond he would fail to grab a role as a cocktail drinking, cigarette-smoking swinger from the 40s so badly.

Nobody really shines as actors in this film though. Cooper and Clarkson generally play small parts in big movies and it is evident why in this film. Both are solid but neither does anything amazing. McAdams gives the start of a very good performance but as her character moves to the periphery of the story, she seems to get bored and fades into a dull sidebar. The producers are publicizing Married Life as a dark romcom but don’t be fooled. This is not a P.S. There’s Something About My Best Friends 27 Sleepless Weddings In The City type romcom. The emphasis is on the dark.

The humour is almost non existant and when it does pop up it’s bone dry. The narration is completely unnecessary as Richard Knows little more than the viewer. In the end this picture is missing something else. At a lean 90 minutes you come away feeling like a lot of the story has been left on the floor of the editing room. An extended DVD might rectify this and turn the film into an enjoyable piece but the theatrical version is lacking a kick in the head as the man said.