Truly Dreadful Film

Disappointment for a huge fan!

Absolutely Fantastic

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Surprisingly perceptive look at a married couple, together for 31 years, whose sex life has become nonexistent: he's harboring grudges that are keeping him from showing intimacy, she wants to be loved as a woman again. They travel to Maine for a week-long extensive therapy session with a marriage counselor, who attempts to break down the "scar tissue" that has built up between the two and get them to stop arguing and start touching. The fact that there are no easy answers presented in Vanessa Taylor's screenplay makes this one of the least-facile commercial movies about marriage in a long while. Leads Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones are terrifically successful in bringing out the sensitivity in the material, though establishing the characters' ages wouldn't have hurt (both stars, in their 60s, appear to be playing a man and woman in their 50s who act like people in their 70s). While this premise isn't exactly full of lively or visually exciting action, the relationship between Streep and Jones becomes real and bracing to us, with Steve Carell very fine as their therapist. The over-emphatic score (jazzy, romantic and plaintive, and capped with heavy-handed pop choices) keeps rising up to underline the emotions in scenes that do not need music to heighten the emotions involved, yet the acting and Taylor's sharp writing carry the load here--and with a great deal of lightly funny dignity. **1/2 from ****

for its deep realism. for the fascinating artistic duel between two great actors. for Steve Carell who represents a real revelation for his admirable performance. it is a film who impress for a great script, for humor, for grow up of old feelings, for fears, vulnerabilities, desires and the fight against yourself. and, more important, for the trip in an aspect of middle age couple who has the admirable virtue to be example of wise equilibrium. a film about a marriage and its new beginning. simple, direct, convincing, refreshing. a honest portrait about a delicate theme. and a great work because it is not easy to imagine better interpreters as Kay and Arnold. sure, a good film. maybe great. for its delicate exploration of an age and the feelings who define it.see it ! not for admire the acting. but for understand rules of a too serious game.

Hope Springs is a romantic comedy and drama that features Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones together with Steve Carell,Elisabeth Shue and Mimi Rogers.This movie takes a view at mature relationships particularly Kay and Arnold who has been married for decades.Kay feels that she and her husband Arnold are just going to the motions of their marriage despite the fact that they show devotion to each other.She wanted to bring up some spice into their relationship by doing various things to reconnect with her husband like seducing her at night but to no avail as he apparently has shown no interest.This led her to convince her husband to visit a couple therapist in town called Great Hope Springs.She had difficulty in persuading him considering his virtues of being steadfast man of routine but manages to do so in the end.During their retreat,both started to explore the challenges they are facing and find out why their marriage has become somewhat dull and boring.But ultimately,this led them to realize their shortcomings and fall for each other once again.No question that Meryl Streep once again delivers as Kay.What's good about it is the fact that she manages to provide a very sexual performance as an aging wife who needs to do something about her lifeless marriage.What's good is that Tommy Lee Jones manages to complement her acting talent as the disinterested husband.Their chemistry and comedic talent shines throughout the film.Although this film could be boring especially for the young audience who have yet to experience what Kay and Arnold are experiencing,I still was somehow felt entertained due to the lead stars performance as they managed to elevate the film despite its average script and direction.Also,it is worth giving credit to the supporting cast for providing spice to what could have been a generic movie without Streep and Jones.

Hope Springs is a story of regret, patience, love, and acceptance—all in two short hours. I, who am twice divorced, have always been in awe of anyone who makes it past the five-year mark in a marriage. When I meet people who have been married for decades, I tell them it surely is their greatest accomplishment in life. Some look at me strangely, others nod in agreement, and still others make some comment or other about how it's not always easy. Whatever their response, I know there are secrets lying behind those knowing glances, pensive stares, or sarcastic comments. Hope Springs takes us inside those secrets, and I was grateful for the tour. It's a wonderful and uncomfortable movie.First, I have to talk about Meryl. I want to thank Margery Simpson, the casting director, for not casting Diane Keaton in the role of Kay. Kay is a bit of a stereotypical housewife from days of old who gets in the rut of service to husband and family. She feels uncomfortable about it, but she is unable to express herself. Imagine a less sophisticated version of the role Diane played in The First Wives Club. Diane plays these women from our past without a hint of the submerged intelligence – the choice to hold back rather than speak their minds, and the price they paid to hold it back. Meryl plays the role perfectly ("What else is new," I hear you ask). It's hard to express intelligence held back without words, but Meryl nails it. When she does speak, we strain to hear her. "I might be less lonely if I were alone," is delivered with such thought, such care, that you know she has been sorting it out in her mind for years. Thank you Meryl for bringing the Achilles heel of my mother's generation to the screen in such a dignified and kind way. But the true star is Tommy Lee Jones, who broke my heart a million times during the film. His performance is worthy of an Academy Award, although we all know these chick flicks rarely receive the golden statue. This one ought to be an exception to this rule. What a complex character! What a range of exploration he needs to do in the short time he has to get it right or call it quits. Whether he's expressing his confusion about what is happening ("I was good, I really was. I never fooled around.") or struggling to try again, to let his guard down one more time, he is just on the mark. And talk about expressing yourself with more than silly words; he owned the screen. Owned it, I tell you.Steve Carell has to get a mention here, especially because his character could easily have ruined the film by being ridiculous. His one-liners needed to be laid gently on the therapy bed, and he did it perfectly. Also, his coat and tie were perfect. He is cute, isn't he? Not a leading man? He was the lead in Dan In Real Life, and I liked him in that, but I didn't think of him as the lead in it. And, he is a secondary lead winner. Nicely done, Steve. I think you should stick to more roles with depth, and leave movies like The 40 Year Old Virgin to Ben Stiller, who irritates me no end.The therapy-session scenes are difficult to take. They made everyone in the theater uncomfortable. Long after another film-maker would have cut away to relieve the discomfort, we were still sitting there waiting for it to ease up. That was new to me. Rarely does anyone punish an audience for having spent money to be entertained, even if the punishment makes the point and tells the story. But I am glad David Frankel did. It wasn't just in the sessions either. Admit it, those of you who have seen the film, you were disappointed with the EcoHotel they stayed in and hated seeing them in there, didn't you? But it told the story as it needed to be told, so thanks for making me uncomfortable.At some point in the movie, someone says to someone else, "What are you going to do with your one and only life?" I can't even remember who said it to whom. But that kind of comment calls for a large answer, some amazing thing you must do to make your mark, to be remembered long after you have left for parts unknown. Watching this movie, I felt for the first time that is not what one needs to strive for. It is more important to get it right with another human being; to really go through ups and downs and years of interaction might be the best thing you can do with your one and only life.Go see it. If you are married, go with your spouse. But if you are divorced, be careful; you might find yourself wondering might have been if you had taken a larger-than-life step before it was over.