A refreshing change

Toward the end of a summer with its share of blockbuster movies geared toward teenaged boys comes Hope Springs (PG-13), a movie for and about adults. It is a refreshing change in several ways.

First, despite some over-the-top elements, it presents a realistic situation—a couple married for 31 years who has fallen into a dull routine and lost any sparkle in their relationship. We witness no superheroes, no car chases or fist fights, no political conspiracies or bombs, no F-words.

Second, the movie offers frank discussion of sexuality in the context of a long-lasting marriage without depicting domestic violence or infidelity. By frank, I mean frank, though it is used not to titillate but to communicate, often with humor.

Third, rather than take viewers away from their current reality to some other world or fantastic situation, Hope Springs holds up a mirror to couples and nudges them look at their own marriages. In this way, the movie goes beyond entertainment and becomes an opportunity to reflect on one’s life. I should add that it does this without being didactic; it simply tells a story of one couple.

Kay (Meryl Streep) and Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones) Soames sleep in separate rooms, share little physical contact and go through the same routines at breakfast before going to work and in the evenings at home, where Arnold falls asleep watching golf lessons on cable. But Kay is unhappy and signs them up for a week of intensive marriage counseling with Dr. Bernie Feld (Steve Carell) in a coastal town in Maine called Hope Springs.

Arnold refuses to go, but Kay tells him she’ll go without him, and besides, she has paid for it. He ends up going but is grumpy, complaining about the cost of everything and how worthless this endeavor is. But they meet with Dr. Feld, and in daily sessions he asks them increasingly frank questions about their relationship, including their sexual fantasies.

Though it improves in the second half, the film’s weakness is its screenplay, particularly its depiction of Arnold. His constant negativity and his aversion to touch seem extreme. And Kay’s obsequious behavior toward him at first also seems a bit much. But these two great actors overcome such flaws in the script and use their skills to make their characters believable. Carell, too, is good, playing against type as a calm, gentle counselor.

While the movie includes laugh-out-loud moments, it’s a serious drama that shows a couple going through the difficult exercise of reviewing their life together and having to decide if they want to do the hard thing and change or continue to drift apart.

Jeanne and I, who have been married 32 years, watched the movie with some recognition that certain ruts are easy to fall into. I laughed at moments and cringed at others. We came away talking about what changes we want to make in our relationship.

While Hope Springs can be seen as a cautionary tale or lesson, it’s basically a story of one couple’s relationship and can be enjoyed on that level. Even younger folks—and there were some in the audience—will enjoy this honest, heart-filled film.