Funny, but real married life doesn't tend to be this interesting..... Harry (excellent Chris Cooper) is a prosperous, middle-aged business man in 1949 east coast America, who appears to have a good life and a happy marriage, in that buttoned down, post war, suburban kind of way. He has a lovely house, a grandchild and a slim, attractive and intelligent wife Pat (fabulous Patricia Clarkson). But Harry seeks that elusive quality, "real" happiness in his life, someone who will love him totally for himself, not just for the sex, and he feels that he is entitled to look for it. He plans to leave Pat.
"Who is she?" asks his canny best friend, man about town Richard (Pierce Brosnan), over a drink-fueled dinner in town. Because there is, of course, another woman lurking in the wings, the delicious, flawless, tragically widowed and much younger Kay (Rachel McAdams as a classic Hitchcock blonde). And Harry makes the serious and fundamental error of introducing them to one another.
Harry is convinced that Pat is so devoted to him that divorce would devastate her to a degree from which she might never recover, so he resolves instead to kill her, and spare her the pain and humiliation of separation. He buys poison and experiments on the elderly family dog, then plots Pat's demise, calmly rationalising that it is the kindest thing to do, like euthanizing a slightly dotty pet. Richard meanwhile, is befriending Kay himself and becoming more and more drawn to her apparently genuine niceness. But things are not all they seem. Pat herself has some secrets, which Richard stumbles upon when he arrives early to stay at Harry and Pat's weekend cottage. It seems Pat too has a lover, rumpled local author John O'Brien (David Wenham), but Pat feels she can never leave Harry because, after all, he is devoted to her and would never recover etc
The story is narrated in retrospect rather than flashback, by Richard, who is close to them both and is party to all their secrets. How can he keep Harry and Pat together so he can sneak off with Kay? This is not so much a love triangle as an irregular pentagon. It is beautifully written by Ira Sachs and Oren Moverman from a John Bingham novel, and it's skillfully acted by all concerned. The movie tries hard to stay within the conventions of 1940s Film Noir. It is perhaps too stylized but is nicely designed and is wry and darkly humorous. I'm not sure how commercially successful it will be in the USA at this time, when everyone seems to want to escape into brain dead horror flicks and big budget special effects extravaganzas. I guess it will depend on how many middle aged, cynical old codgers like me are prepared to get out to a theater?
Rachel McAdams seems to be picking her roles carefully, I really liked her here, and Pierce Brosnan plays Richard so well that I am afraid he will get typecast as the consummate cad having escaped the shackles of James Bond. David Wenham seemed rather underutilized, given what a big name he is in Australia, but possibly playing alongside such acting greats as Clarkson and Cooper will raise his profile in the USA. It's certainly a long way from 300. And for those who thought Kay (McAdams is 32) was an unlikely match for Harry (Cooper is 56) there is the slight consolation that Pat (Clarkson is 48) gets to play with the younger John (Wenham is 42). American films these days mostly keep middle aged women in an entirely sex free zone, so I would imagine Clarkson must have loved this role, which allows her to be sly, sexy and enigmatic.
Not a bad film. I enjoyed it. My only real complaint is that the ending is a little weak, a bit of a cop out in its intention to avoid melodrama. Everyone appears to live happily ever after which I find just a little doubtful. I'd have loved Pat to run off with Richard. Now that would have been fun!
"Who is she?" asks his canny best friend, man about town Richard (Pierce Brosnan), over a drink-fueled dinner in town. Because there is, of course, another woman lurking in the wings, the delicious, flawless, tragically widowed and much younger Kay (Rachel McAdams as a classic Hitchcock blonde). And Harry makes the serious and fundamental error of introducing them to one another.
Harry is convinced that Pat is so devoted to him that divorce would devastate her to a degree from which she might never recover, so he resolves instead to kill her, and spare her the pain and humiliation of separation. He buys poison and experiments on the elderly family dog, then plots Pat's demise, calmly rationalising that it is the kindest thing to do, like euthanizing a slightly dotty pet. Richard meanwhile, is befriending Kay himself and becoming more and more drawn to her apparently genuine niceness. But things are not all they seem. Pat herself has some secrets, which Richard stumbles upon when he arrives early to stay at Harry and Pat's weekend cottage. It seems Pat too has a lover, rumpled local author John O'Brien (David Wenham), but Pat feels she can never leave Harry because, after all, he is devoted to her and would never recover etc
The story is narrated in retrospect rather than flashback, by Richard, who is close to them both and is party to all their secrets. How can he keep Harry and Pat together so he can sneak off with Kay? This is not so much a love triangle as an irregular pentagon. It is beautifully written by Ira Sachs and Oren Moverman from a John Bingham novel, and it's skillfully acted by all concerned. The movie tries hard to stay within the conventions of 1940s Film Noir. It is perhaps too stylized but is nicely designed and is wry and darkly humorous. I'm not sure how commercially successful it will be in the USA at this time, when everyone seems to want to escape into brain dead horror flicks and big budget special effects extravaganzas. I guess it will depend on how many middle aged, cynical old codgers like me are prepared to get out to a theater?
Rachel McAdams seems to be picking her roles carefully, I really liked her here, and Pierce Brosnan plays Richard so well that I am afraid he will get typecast as the consummate cad having escaped the shackles of James Bond. David Wenham seemed rather underutilized, given what a big name he is in Australia, but possibly playing alongside such acting greats as Clarkson and Cooper will raise his profile in the USA. It's certainly a long way from 300. And for those who thought Kay (McAdams is 32) was an unlikely match for Harry (Cooper is 56) there is the slight consolation that Pat (Clarkson is 48) gets to play with the younger John (Wenham is 42). American films these days mostly keep middle aged women in an entirely sex free zone, so I would imagine Clarkson must have loved this role, which allows her to be sly, sexy and enigmatic.
Not a bad film. I enjoyed it. My only real complaint is that the ending is a little weak, a bit of a cop out in its intention to avoid melodrama. Everyone appears to live happily ever after which I find just a little doubtful. I'd have loved Pat to run off with Richard. Now that would have been fun!