'Hope Springs' stars Meryl Streep & Tommy Lee Jones
Academy Award-winner Tommy Lee Jones and three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep are married. Well, not really. They play husband and wife in the new film "Hope Springs."
Streep's character Kay Soames has sunk into the doldrums over her faded connection with hubby Arnold Soames (Jones). He's fine—content to be a work-a-day accountant with a comfy routine at home. He barely notices that he and his wife no longer share the same bed, or even the same bedroom.
Arnold doesn't have a clue anything is wrong until he learns that Kay has consulted with therapist Dr. Bernie Fields (Steve Carell). Arnold becomes curmudgeony and caveman-ish (not a stretch for actor Jones) and has no desire to go with his wife for counseling. No way, no how.
"Finally he does go," Tommy Lee Jones said, "with a grudge, a resentment and a fear of intimacy." "These two people fit into traditional roles," said Meryl Streep. "They're grounded in the every day and the quotidian but they have real, real problems underneath."
A three-decade long marriage hitting a slump is not anything unusual but the story works due to a smart script with touching moments and comic relief.
“Hope Springs” also stars Elisabeth Shue as a bartender and Mimi Rogers as Carol, the sexy neighbor. The screenplay is by Vanessa Taylor, a writer with a long list of quality TV credits including "Game of Thrones" and "Alias." The director is David Frankel, best known for "Devil Wears Prada" and "Marley & Me."
Frankel knew Jones was the right man to play Arnold, "Sure he's weathered and experienced and not a spring chicken, but he still has it." Frankel said, "He's still a guy men want to be and women want to go out with. He's got that thing."
Word to the wise: If your own wedded bliss is strained, you may learn a valuable take-away from this movie. So, instead of schlepping around in this heat, take an air-conditioned break, eat some popcorn and enjoy.
Rated PG-13. 100 minutes. Opens today, August 8, 2012.
Written for the Examiner
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