Hope Springs (2012) stars Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep as empty nesters Arnold and Kay Soames. Arnold has settled into the routine existence that they share, while Kay is feeling trapped and ignored by that same mundane routine. At Kay’s insistence, they depart to Maine for a week of intense relationship therapy with professional counselor Dr. Bernie Feld (Steve Carell).
All
three lead characters give wonderful performances. Jones and Streep are
magnificent as they show the vulnerability of a couple that loves each other
but has stopped expressing that love physically. They are now confronted with a
therapist who desires to frankly discuss fantasies and satisfactions that each
of them has had sexually. As he peels back the layers of emotional walls that
each of them has built up over the years, the results for the Soames are
sometimes successful and yet sometimes they simply end in a hot mess of
humiliation. Reestablishing intimacy requires effort, and that effort makes for
some interesting viewing thanks in no small part to the two gifted actors at
the helm of this film.
The story is heartfelt and there are plenty of chuckles to be had, especially with Jones’s money-obsessed curmudgeon of a character! That said, I wouldn’t classify this as a comedy, nor is it a romcom by any means. It’s simply an enjoyable film that realistically addresses the fact that many relationships have hiccups… and that they can often be resolved one way or another. This one gets a solid B.
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