Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by mr grits (A) on September 30, 2010 at 16:13:08

There is something about a well produced period film that really draws me in. "Married Life" is so well designed that I felt like I was three or four and just awakening to the world of the early-mid fifties.

Chris Cooper is the stable, dependable, go-to husband that was considered the "gold standard" of the day. His lovely wife, Patricia Clarkson, was attractive, charming, always pleasant, always cheerful. You couldn't ask for more. Cooper's best friend, Pearce Bronson, was the handsome man about town that pretty much considered himself unhitchable. These three start us on a tale of misplaced love and adultery than leads to near disaster for all of them due to the lovley Rachael McAdams who loves Cooper for his basset hound loyalities.

Unsuspecting to his wife, Cooper works late and takes business trips to spend time with the younger McAdams. While talking to Bronson one day he confesses his love and consternation and asks McAdams to meet both of them for the ritual friend's approval. Cooper says later that he plans to divorce Clarkson but is afraid it will hurt her beyond repair. What Cooper failed to realize that Bronson was so smitten with McAdams that he became an agent on his own behalf. Plus, Clarkson was having an affair with a younger, more studly neighbor.

Poor clueless Cooper decides that killing Clarkson is the most merciful way to wrap up the situation and that's when the miscues and missteps begin.

This 2007 film is timeless as it represents a golden era in America when all "was right". Beautifully written and produced it is visually compelling and Clarkson really shines as one of Hollywood's finest. I recommend it as a mature, laid back character study of human frailty and mis-perceptions.


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