Review of Hope Springs (2012) by Joel M — 26 Jan 2013

I hoped that I would have enjoyed the dramedy "Hope Springs" as much as many critics and filmgoers did. Not to sound like a complaining old geezer, but this film about a couple in their 50's who try to rejuvenate their marriage did not spring up as a spectacular cinematic affair. "Hope Springs" stars Meryl Streep as the saucy sheriff in the town of Springsville who tells all the tourists "you, you get out of here!!"; OK, so that is not really true. I am just recalling Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig's hilarious Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical award presentation at the Golden Globes where Streep was one of the nominees. "Hope Springs" does star Streep and Tommy Lee Jones as married couple Kay and Arnold. They have been married for 31 years but have grown very distant throughout the years, they even sleep in different bedrooms. Kay is vastly interested in bringing affection & romance back into the marriage, so she decides to enroll Arnold and her in a week-long, intense couple counseling session. Arnold is not enamored to traveling to another state for the sessions, but ends up going for the ride with Kay. Steve Carell plays Dr. Feld, the couple-counseling guru psychiatrist who heads the sessions; or in other words who wants Kay and Arnold to have a marriage that "Felds" good. Sorry, I know there are way too many puns that spring up in this review. I hope you are still with me. Now I do admire veteran Director David Frankel for highlighting a film that depicts how a longtime couple in their 50's could do a Timberlake and "bring sexy back" into their dreary marriage. But my problem with Frankel's direction is that there were too many lapses where too much of nothing happens in the picture; kind a like Kay and Arnold's sex life before they got "Feld" up. Vanessa Taylor's screenplay was not a thing of beauty, but it was decent enough for it to be Taylor- made on the verbose interactions of a married couple before they hit their twilight time. Now, I do not have one bad thing to say that would divorce you from seeing the astute performances from the great Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones as Kay and Arnold; in other words, yet once again, they rocked! However, I wasn't as psyched for Carell's work as Dr. Feld. I hope that you got the gist of my feelings for "Hope Springs" in this review; mediocre direction & writing and excellent starring performances. So it has some good and some bad; as most marriages do; new, old, or rejuvenated.

*** Average.