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Plot Summary
Oscar-nominated Naomi Watts ("21 Grams," "The Ring") and Oscar and Emmy-nominated Laura Dern ("I Am Sam," "Jurassic Park III") star in this tale of marital discord that was nominated for the 2004 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize. Two married couples, who are all best of friends and whose marriages share much in common including being past the passion point, encounter contradictory feelings when infidelity is discovered among them. Also starring Mark Ruffalo ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind") and Emmy and Golden Globe-nominee Peter Krause ("The Truman Show," TV's "Six Feet Under"). Directed by John Curran ("Praise").
Credits
Director
Screenwriter
Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews
TOMATOMETER
65%- Reviews Counted: 123
- Fresh: 80
- Rotten: 43
- Average Rating: 6.4/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Fresh: Scene by scene, the movie is precise, vibrant, and, for all its turmoil, moving.
Fresh: I was fully absorbed in the characters and their casually outrageous behavior.
Rotten: Dramatically slack, the story isn't driven by plot so much as by the slow revelation of character.
Fresh: Painful, powerful adaptation of two of Andre Dubus' beautifully frank stories.
Customer Reviews
A wonderful adaptation of Edward Dubus' novella
This movie is about 2 married couples in a small college town. Rival English Professors compete to see who has the better teaching career, writing career & marriage.
Mark Ruffalo does a masterful job. He makes you hate him, pity him, & pray for him. I've never been a fan of Laura Dern's, but she does get you to feel genuine concern for her as she is trapped in a marriage to a man whom she loves more than he loves her. Naomi Watts is great as a lost woman who cheats on her husband & is a terrible mother to her daughter. She plays the cards life has dealt her, but she keeps discarding the wrong suit. You realize that the sadness in her life is largely her own making, but she lacks the ability to do anything about it.
This movie was overlooked by the paying audience when it was in theaters.
This film is not for the faint of heart. You will cry and feel empty inside. But it does make you think.
Afterwards, I guarantee you will want to read the novella that inspired the film.
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- $17.99
- Genre: Drama
- Released: 2004
- © 2004 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.