Hope Springs [M]

Kay and Arnold have a compliant marriage but after decades of a distance that still increases between them, Kay decides that she wants herself and Arnold to go to the little town of Hope Springs and seek the advice and therapy from a couples’ specialist. Arnold is sceptical and cantankerous about the whole ordeal at the beginning, but when he begins to see how desperately unhappy Kay is with their marriage he tries to do his part, which includes overcoming the sexual barrier that has risen up between them. 

It's Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones so that had me right form the off, but ultimately Hope Springs is not the laughable romantic comedy that the trailers would have us believe. Still, it was a hugely moving film and wholly romantic leaving both my mum and myself without dry eyes. Well worth watching. 

Kay and Arnold have a compliant marriage but after decades of a distance that still increases between them, Kay decides that she wants herself and Arnold to go to the little town of Hope Springs and seek the advice and therapy from a couples’ specialist. Arnold is sceptical and cantankerous about the whole ordeal at the beginning, but when he begins to see how desperately unhappy Kay is with their marriage he tries to do his part, which includes overcoming the sexual barrier that has risen up between them. 

One thing about this film that I found fascinating was the way in which the entire thing was filmed in a way reflective to its plotline. Somehow, everything about this film and the way in which it was edited smacks of some sort of therapy session. The scenes are reflective of the sessions the leads go through as they are short or long depending on what ground gets covered in that particular session. And the performances too gave the feeling of being questioned by an expert. Obviously Steve Carell did this the most because he is the expert, but the way in which Meryl spoke her lines also took on that short, airy, and inadvertently patronising genteel way that we see all screen therapists adopt. Now this is not to say that it all was a bad thing, but that I just found it quite interesting at how reflective of the plot it was. 

Ultimately it was Meryl’s performance that had us tearing up on more than one occasion. She delivers a performance that is gentle and soft-spoken aside from when she finally bursts and spouts forth all of her repressed feelings. She’s always going to be good because she’s Meryl Streep! Tommy Lee Jones provides the movie with most of the comic relief as he delivers a performance that is hugely cantankerous, loudly opinionated, and quite bullying. I would be genuinely frightened if he spoke to me the way he spoke to Steve Carell’s character. 

Starring Jean Smart, Ben Rappaport, Marin Ireland, and Patch Darragh, Hope Springs was a lovely little movie filled with drama, romance, and comedy. It wasn’t what the trailers had let me to believe it was but it was still a lovely film.