I had pretty low expectations regarding Meryl Streep’s new movie. I was expecting a sweet blockbuster and that was it. But just having Ms. Streep as the lead makes a movie mandatory to me. It’s by the same director of The Devil Wears Prada. Another reason for me to watch it (I loved what they did together at that time!) yet keeping my expectations low. Anyway… Off I went!
It’s the story of a middle-aged couple from Omaha, which, after 30 years of marriage, no longer seems to have anything in common. While Meryl Streep’s character is trying to fix the marriage, the husband, played by Tommy Lee Jones, thinks it’s all lame. The movie aims for an elderly, middle-class audience. She plays the typical repressed woman, who performs all domestic chores, waiting on her husband while all he does is to watch cable TV without even thinking of his wife’s dissatisfaction. They sleep in separate bedrooms. Barely talk.
She decides to play her last card by spending all her savings in an intensive couple’s therapy treatment. So they take a trip, against the husband’s will. That’s when the movie actually starts. From that moment on, it’s all tricky questions inside a therapist’s office and their process of becoming close again.
Hope Springs features two fantastic actors. I even think it’s more about Tommy Lee Jones than Meryl Streep. He made that tough man more human, playing every embarrassing situation in a very sweet manner. Precise. Truthful. She also masters Kay’s repressed desires. But, you know, she’s the greatest, so it’s not like we haven’t seen much more of her before, right?
Anyway, I thought the film was a bit slow. It’s just the two of them after all. On their day-to-day or in therapy. So it feels a little longer and we kind of know what’s going to happen in the end. No big surprises. I guess the fact that the conflicts are so far from my reality is also a downside. I just thought it was boring. Very boring. That’s it.
Did you see it? Like it?
