Film Reviews

Married Life

• Rating:
• Director: Ira Sachs.
• Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson, Rachel McAdams.
• Details: US / 90mins (12A)

A nod and a wink to '40s noir, Married Life is a pretty decent thriller for a half hour before descending into a TV movie drama. Over lunch one day, Harry Allen (Cooper with another dependable performance) confesses to best friend Richard (Brosnan) that although he still loves his wife Pat (Clarkson), he isn't 'in love' with her and will leave her for pretty widow Kay (McAdams). Instead of putting Pat through an embarrassing divorce that would destroy her, Harry moves to poison her - but didn't reckon on playboy Richard swooping in to woo Kay away from him. Rich in detail and an interesting investigation of love and what it all means ("Love is sex, the rest is friendship and companionship") it may be, but Married Life suffers badly from languid pacing (although moves quicker than Sachs's previous snooze-fest 40 Shades Of Blue) and its biggest crime - a needless voiceover. Brosnan's matter-of-fact narration doesn't work, stitching together important plot points that happen off screen when it should be happening on. Brosnan and McAdams spend precious little time together to render their attraction believable; Brosnan tells us that 'they met a couple of times', but that's not strong enough - we need to see it. Sachs, in adapting John Bingham's novel with his co-writer Oren Moverman (I'm Not There), keeps the characters at arm's length from each other - which is fine, but also the audience - which isn't. As a result, we never really get to know anyone, and it's difficult to care what happens to them.

Review by Gavin Burke