Review of We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004) by Manny C — 22 Mar 2011

'I wonder how we'll get caught,' ponders Edith (Naomi Watts) after some steamy sex in the woods with Jack (Mark Ruffalo), who is best friends with Edith's husband Hank (Peter Krause). Edith herself is best friends with Terry (Laura Dern), Jack's wife, who decides to bed Hank out of retaliation.

All this on a New England college campus where Jack and Hank teach and raise children and commit adultery that they hardly try to keep hidden. Taken from two short stories by Andre Dubus (In The Bedroom), We Don't Live Here Anymore, expertly directed by John Curran, from an excellent screenplay by Larry Gross, is a compendium of sexual tension and sparks that cut deep.

The film is brutally funny, erotic, bracingly literate and anchored by its four wonderful performances. Krause, formerly of Six Feet Under and now on NBC's Parenthood, and Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right) dig into their roles, bringing wonderful shades of depth to these men.

And Dern gives her finest performance yet, getting at the core and bruised heart of a complex woman. Here's a film with real staying power.