Best movie of this year hands down!

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

After a decent start with Streep (the unsatisfied wife) and Jones (the disinterested husband) going to couples therapy, the movie became a series of uncomfortable sexual misses. They could have broken ground with a more raw, truthful November-November love story, but the writers shied away (Tommy Lee's sexual fantasy is a threesome? Wow! Stop the presses).Much of the movie's second half was shot in low light for the bedroom feel, so it was hard to discern what was even happening. Ultimately, I gave up caring anyway. Streep's pearl clutching and Jones' emotional retardation became too much. There was a good final zinger re the neighbor, but the spare moments of levity could not resurrect this sad story from the dumper.Not Recommended.

Had a bit of a hard time with the soundtrack generally, maybe a little cheesy for my taste.. but the acting is excellent.. obviously, these actors have nothing to prove.. and it is an overall touching slice of life. Once in a while between action, sci- fi, heavy drama, adventure etc etc.., it is nice getting an honest human low-key down-to-earth "drama" and feeling like the fly on the wall.

"Hope Springs" is being sold as a comedy but it really isn't. It's a dramatic film about a couple whose marriage has been dying and will probably end soon unless they work together to revitalize it, with a few funny moments here and there. It has good acting (Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones and Steve Carell are pretty much the only actors in the film so they really have time to shine). For a lot of people, seeing the movie will make them question how their relationships have evolved over the years and where they want their relationships to go. Any movie that provokes genuine intelligent conversation is a good one to see in my opinion. It's not perfect though; the soundtrack is a bit over the top at times and while it takes some interesting directions, you'll wish it went off the beaten path more often. How much you like the movie will probably depend on how much you can relate to two people who have been married for 31 years and have fallen (or nearly fallen) out of love, but I haven't even been alive that long, so there's something there for anyone who can put themselves in the shoes of these characters too. I'd definitely recommend it. (Theatrical cut version on the big screen, August 7, 2012)

A masterful job by Tommy Lee Jones as Arnold; a stoic, staunch, impatient, rude, angry, obnoxious, tense, terse, distant, dysfunctional husband. Jones is so convincing and so engrossed in his character that it is easy to forget he is acting. He delivers his lines with spontaneity and from the heart, like he has lived Arnold's life, not like he is reading from a script. Excellent job as well by Meryl Streep as Kay, Arnold's charming, sensitive, frustrated, desperate, dutiful wife. Perhaps the best work of Steve Carell's career as Dr. Bernard Feld, the cool, calm, caring, sensitive, soft-spoken, compassionate, reassuring marriage therapist. Honorable mention goes out to Elisabeth Shue, as the charming, friendly local bartender.But Jones commands every scene and steals the show. His portrayal of Arnold, first as a disconnected spouse and later, in his awkwardness and discomfort in the situation he has reluctantly been cast, is acting perfection. "Hope Springs" is an average script, made exceptional by the extraordinary work of Steve Carell and Hollywood icons Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep. A very 'touching' movie.