We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004)
Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Laura Dern, Peter Krause, Naomi Watts
Director: John Curren
Screenplay: Larry Gross
Running time: 101 minutes
BASED on two Andre Dubus short stories, the theme is very similar to his first story turned movie (2001’s In the Bedroom) - the moral consequences of lust – in this case two married friends having an affair that threatens to end both marriages.
Ruffalo and Watts play Jack and Edith, the friends in question, while their partners Hank and Terry (Krause from Six Feet Under and the ever-reliable Dern) are seemingly oblivious to what is going on around them. Watts seeks the comfort of Ruffalo because her husband is having affairs with his college students, while Ruffalo wants Watts because he finds his wife slovenly and unattractive. To complicate matters both wives still love their husbands, even though that affection is not reciprocated. The movie asks the question “even if you can justify an affair, does it make you happy?”.
Any movie needs at least one character the audience can relate to in a positive manner, and it is here the movie doesn’t deliver - there is no sympathy with any of the leads; Dern’s Terry comes across as a whiney drunk; Krause’s Hank as a middle-aged lothario who seems both ungrateful and unhappy; Ruffalo’s Jack as a self-obssessed hedonist; and Watts’ Edith as someone who is calculating and manipulative.
Curren labours the point with silent pauses that last too long, and in the case of Krause’s character, you almost wonder if he’s even necessary to the plot given his shallow characterisation. However the cinematography is outstanding with lush British Columbia suburbia substituting for a small college town in the American Northwest, and an unforeseen ambiguous ending to Watts’ character did hold some interest at the end.
Notable Awards: Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at Sundance for Larry Gross
2 stars out of 5
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1 For The Road
The characters in Closer were commented on in a similar way - still loved it.
the characters were brilliantly played.
I will check this one out