Review of Love Is Strange (2014) by Charlotte T — 16 Aug 2014

Ira Sachs' films are an acquired taste, with their languorous rhythms and often elliptical storytelling techniques. Either you appreciate their intelligence or you nod off. I liked but did not love his prior film, the critically lauded KEEP THE LIGHTS ON. Sachs' choices distanced me rather than pulled me in to his epic story of a drug-infused gay relationship. My biggest problem is that he cast his own semi-autobiographical role with a person so different from himself, that I had a hard time caring as much as perhaps I should have.

His latest film, LOVE IS STRANGE, which like his last, is a collaboration with co-writer Mauricio Zacharias, is a completely engaging, emotionally rich and real meditation on love in all its ramifications. Although the story revolves around Ben (John Lithgow) and George (Alfred Molina), a couple who marry after decades of being together, only to face separation when a job and an apartment are suddenly lost to them. Ben moves in with his nephew (Darren E. Burrows) and his wife (Marisa Tomei, doing a wonderful slow burn) and their petulant teen son (Charlie Tahan). George moves in with the gay couple who lived below (Cheyenne Jackson and Manny Perez). The rest of the film plays out with this configuration, showing the separation's impact on not only our main couple, but on everyone around them.

Ben loses his job as a Catholic school teacher because of the marriage, and the dignity Molina brings to these scenes feels so natural and devoid of actor-like dramatics. It puts the audience in the position of wanting to scream for him, which is way more effective than having an actor scream for us. Moving in with the younger gay couple, Ben feels like the odd man out.

Meanwhile, George becomes an intruder in the lives of his family. Tomei plays a writer who cannot complete a thought without getting interrupted by a sweet, unsuspecting George. Tomei navigates the gradations of her frustration perfectly. Tahan, as her young son, isn't so subtle about his feelings for his uncle, who sleeps in the bunk below him, clearly invading his space. What I loved about this film is how the young son's story becomes such a focal point. Sachs and Zacharias aim to show the effects of one relationship on all those around them, and the arc of the teen character is one of the most satisfying surprises here.

Unfortunately, Jackson and Perez are relegated to the sidelines with little to do except host loud parties. While keeping things as believable and as natural as everything else, their exclusion feels like a missed opportunity. It's nitpicking, but to have mined their reactions to the older couple a little deeper would have enhanced an already terrific film.

Both Lithgow and Molina have played gay characters in the past and with flashier results, but here, they are all feeling. Not only are they a completely believable couple, but it's so easy to relate to them as humans. Lithgow appears to fully understand how nice people can be annoying, while Molina drives the point home that humility and kindness are sometimes frustrating but wise choices. They both deserve to be remembered for what they've done in this movie.

Sachs and his cinematographer Christo Voudouris (BEFORE MIDNIGHT) keep things highly credible and should be praised for what is not seen as much as for what appears. Nowhere is this more evident than a shot of the Waverly Diner as the film heads into its final act. So much is implied in this long take, that it becomes unnecessary to include what would have been an overly dramatic scene. Same goes for an extended shot of a character letting emotions out towards the end. Without fancy editing, this character is given such an opportunity to be real, and the film is all the more affecting as a result. That same character gets a transcendent moment on the sun-dappled streets of New York, where so much is said without a word of dialogue. It's the perfect marriage of good storytelling and image.

LOVE IS STRANGE is ultimately an ensemble film about the power of love and how it can heal anything. Some may find the Chopin score a little twee, and the film as a whole a little too understated. Personally, I found it to be quietly devastating.