Review: ‘Married Life’ on DVD

“It’s funny, isn’t it? What we do for love?”

This is the last line of the film, uttered by our narrator, ending this small but tightly-knit tale of the four letter word that all of us struggle to define… love. No, this isn’t some mushy romantic melodrama about true love and happily ever after. Actually, it really couldn’t be any more contrary to what this film tackles.

‘Married Life’ is a dark story that has a subtle humor about it, a sense of humor that’s a bit twisted. Writer-director Ira Sachs (Forty Shades of Blue) weaves an intricate web of extra-marital affairs and love triangles and lies and secrets that all take place right next door. Chris Cooper (Breach) once again shows us he’s an actor much more talented that he is appreciated, starring as Harry Allen, a middle-aged business man happily married to his wife Pat, played by Patricia Clarkson (The Station Agent), who doesn’t really “love” Harry… at least not like he wants her to. Pat doesn’t believe in the traditional romantic definition of love and this bothers Harry. Pierce Brosnan (Seraphim Falls) plays Harry’s best friend Richard. He’s an attractive, charming single man. Harry confides in Richard that he’s been seeing another woman who truly “loves” him. At first, Richard is surprisingly somewhat unaffected by this revelation, until he meets Harry’s other woman named Kay, played by Rachel McAdams (Red Eye). Richard instantly finds himself smitten with the younger, blond fair-skinned lady that Harry holds so dear. These are our four players and the game is called love.

The story from here is one more of fear and desire than that of love and lust. The act of physical love, as Pat would define it, plays little into this story. Harry is a man who needs to love and to be loved in return. What happens, however, if Harry’s own actions to secure this need of his ultimately result in the exact opposite? This is the path that we follow as Harry ventures down a slippery slope involving adultery, deception, betrayal and… possibly even murder? How far will one go for love?

‘Married Life’ is an understated but highly intriguing character-driven story that paints a less picturesque image of marriage than we like to imagine. Watching this film is like watching a 1940’s American suburbs version of Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ with a touch of dark comedy and a hint of film noir. While Pierce Brosnan and Rachel McAdams do a fine job, they are mostly the eye candy in this film, with Brosnan also adding the noir-like narration to the film. The real Emeril’s “Bam!” comes from the performance given by Patricia Clarkson and especially Chris Cooper, who continues to climb higher on my ladder of favorite actors. Overall, ‘Married Life’ is a satisfyingly tasty tale of regular people drawn into irregular circumstances. Personally, I did feel the film’s ending was acceptable, but departed from the rest of the film’s darker noir tone and atmosphere. ‘Married Life’ is well worth the rental.

DVD Features:

• Audio Commentary
• Three Alternate Endings (with optional commentary)
• Theatrical Trailer

[rating:3.75/5]