An old couple who have been married for 31 years attend intense week-long counseling in an attempt to get their marriage back on track.
Kay is the one who suggests the week away which Arnold is not happy with at all, he does not see any problems in their marriage and thinks its normal after 31 years. I was expecting this film to be a cute romantic comedy and focused on the pair’s relationship . . . which it does but I was not expecting it to have a very big focus on sex (or the lack of it).
I guess it shows that it is always something that is going to be a big thing in a marriage, but in this story it seems that it was never really all that great for them to begin with. When seeing Dr. Feld he attempts to get them to reconnect with each other. I thought Steve Carell was really good in this role a little more serious than his usual roles.
Some of the scenes were rather awkward to watch but that added humor to the film, as you cannot help but laugh when things are a little difficult to watch. The thing with this film is that you wonder if you are going to end up like the characters or that your life will be totally different. At times though I struggled to see how they were still together for 31 years if it had been 5 years or more since the main contact. I guess that is something you might not have to deal with? I’m just guessing obviously as I am not married and don’t really see much point in it, films like this not really help to change your mind and push you towards marriage.
Let’s face it Meryl Streep was the reason that I wanted to go and see this film, I have really become a massive fan of hers over the past few years. I just wanted to see how different this role would be to previous roles. It probably is a little disappointing due to the high standards she has set for herself but this film isn’t meant to be the greatest ever made, my guess is that it’s to give some focus to older aged people on the silver screen. A kinda of anti-rom/com due to the age of the actors and characters.
Tommy Lee Jones was a very grumpy old man who gave us most of the laughs throughout the film, due to his bitterness and sarcasm. I do believe he is perfect for this role, as he is so believable as a grumpy old man. So great casting on this part.
I wouldn’t really find myself recommending this film to many people, but maybe at 25 years old I just wasn’t the target audience for this film . . . actually not maybe . . . I was not the target audience for this film!
