Une vie à deux

I was miffed the first time I saw this film. Miffed that I had allowed the opinions of others to steer me away from it until it came out on DVD. What a lovely bitter sweet/sweetly bitter film. After seeing The Story Of Us and talking to others about it, I came to the pejorative conclusion that the folk I spoke to just didn't get the film because they simply had not been there. I realized that no one I talked to at first had shared his or her lives with anyone for any more than a few years. This film deals with the daily wear and tear of ANY truly long-term relationship. It is an accurate, albeit theatrical, portrayal of the way high ups and devastating downs that can come to two people who love each other … hate each other … need each other … want each other desperately … hate each other some more and finally love each other again. I concluded that those who had never been to the end (and I mean the it's over and I am outta here end) of a relationship and still been able to pull away form the precipice and put things back together again, just didn't have a clue. So there my partner and I were after 16 years together truly touched by all that we saw, nodded our heads to, laughed at and balled our eyes out over and, in the end, really uplifted by in this gem of a film. Michelle Pfeiffer's final monologue alone would have been worth the price of a movie ticket just to watch – All Actors should be made to watch her has she creates brilliant comedy by bursting into tears. It is a true lesson in comic artistry while still touching the heartstrings. I HATE THE KIRBYS TOO!!!!

This is a disturbing, bittersweet romantic comedy about two people who's 15 year marriage is unraveling. Actually, it is more of a romantic tragedy than a comedy. Ben and Katie Jordan (Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer) are two mismatched people in the marriage that never should have been. He is spontaneous, romantic and impulsive, with low frustration tolerance and an explosive hair trigger temper. She is pragmatic, a compulsive perfectionist with unrealistic expectations, and a high need for control. She takes everything personally and never forgives or forgets a slight. They both blame each other for their disappointments. The pattern is clear. He doesn't meet her standards so she snipes, he explodes and then she accuses him of not listening. She then throws up every mistake he's ever made and every fault he's ever had. This goes on ad nauseam as their romantic obsession with one another continues to get the best of any sense they might have to call it quits. Like moths to a flame, they keep returning for another scorching.

This film is thought provoking in that it portrays marital difficulties that are all too familiar in our society. The problem is that it tries to give every problem known to man (with the exception of wife beating) to this couple and relies on the single strand of a long forgotten romance to be the only chance of keeping them together.

In watching the behind the scenes featurette on this film, Rob Reiner and writers Alan Zweibel and Jessie Nelson discuss how the story evolved. As it turns out, it was a montage of all their own marital problems. So the film was, in essence cathartic dumping ground for the writers and director.

As filmmaking, it was terrific. Rob Reiner weaves the story together expertly, creating a stark contrast between the joy of the romance and the reality of the relationship. The film was punctuated by numerous funny and sweet moments that make the viewer smile and glow with delight.

Michelle Pfeiffer gives a splendid performance of a very emotionally complex and neurotic character. It took a lot of courage for her to take this part because she was playing the least likeable character in the film, something of a departure for her. Bruce Willis was as good as one could have expected considering the fact that nobody was blowing anything up. Actually, he was quite good as the impulsive, childlike romantic, but when it came to the arguments and the serious displays of resentment, he played the scenes too harshly, almost commando style.

Reiner does good camera work and puts together some good rapid fire scenes that have impact and give great insight into the relationship. He also took the film on location in Venice to add a little romantic interlude, and somehow got Eric Clapton to write a great theme song.

The problem is the story. Reiner stated in the featurette that he intended this to be a realistic bittersweet look at the real problems relationships face. But he tried to do too much and made this film a grossly exaggerated caricature of a relationship in crisis. It is really "The War of The Roses" lite only it takes itself too seriously. No one I know who saw this could believe that this couple could possibly have stayed married for 15 weeks, no less 15 years.

The result is a noxious marathon of petty arguments that get under the viewers' skin after a while. It is about as entertaining as watching your best friends have a niggling argument in a public restaurant. The whole thing leaves you very uncomfortable and you don't go home feeling like you've had a nice evening.

So, while it succeeds as filmmaking, it fails as a film. I gave this film a 6/10. There were so many good elements to it that I can't see trashing it. But the story is one that requires a level of emotional endurance that few viewers will be willing or able to invest to get any enjoyment out of it.

Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer are Ben and Katie Jordan in `The Story of Us', Rob Reiner's latest directorial effort. The Jordans have been married for 15 years and have reached a turning point in their relationship. Authors Alan Zweibel and Jesse Nelson explore the past and present of the couple in a mosaic of vignettes throughout the years they have been together. There are scenes of joy, laughter, anger and frustration. The film basically takes place in the present as the teenage son and daughter leave for summer camp. The couple decides to separate during the summer vacation to re-evaluate their situation and spare the children any suffering. The scenes jump back and forth revealing the deterioration and lack of any real communication in their day to day life. Zweibel explained in an interview that the screenplay was somewhat autobiographical, but when he realized the script was somewhat one-sided (male) he joined with Jesse Nelson to rewrite the script and deliver a more realistic and even-handed reflection of the marriage. They are fairly successful. However, Willis' Ben seems to be the more sympathetic of the two. In one scene Ben has just begun dinner out with his two best friends,a married couple played warmly and humorously by Rob Reiner and Rita Wilson. In a loud eruption of anger and resentment he voices his emotions disrupting the quiet tone of the restaurant. He leaves the table and paces outside on the street. In this tenderly revealing scene Willis, without a word, shows the life-shattering trauma he is going through. Willis has developed into a fine and subtly sensitive actor. Just when the audience thinks all of its sympathies are on Ben's side, Katie has a 3-minute monologue in which she spews out her reactions to all that has happened. Pfeiffer's performance here is also a tour de force. If only what has come before had the power of these two sequences. Eric Clapton's music effectively underscores the highs and lows, his song quietly framing the beginning and ending of the film. Married folks will definitely identify with this couple. One could hear the sounds of recognition from the audience at the screening I attended. It remains to be seen if this story will attract and entertain a wide range of moviegoers.

Wow, that is the one word that would best sum up what the movie is all about. It is so close to reality that it is scary, I am only 16 so I haven't gone through this yet, however my parents have, and all I can say is that the movie was done so well I could relate to so many things in the movie.

Bruce and Michelle play the characters so well that it look like they are going through it as well.

I would say that it is worth watching wether you know the situation or just want to watch the movie. It is touchy and funny at the same time.

I wrote at the beginning that my parents went through the same things and I believe that the movie helped them to get through it and they are now doing a lot better and don't fight as often.

This is a pretty film, often poignant, and a bit too close to the bone at times for my liking. Still, it carries you along quite nicely - making it's point that time grinds marriages down more often than affairs - and then sort of stops.

The leads were great: Willis was really good, Pfeiffer was fantastic (hey, i'm a fan, okay). But, the characters were tough to take. The self-pity was intercut with nice bits of comedy, but it felt like Reiner was cutting from a wake to a pratt-fall on occasions.

The final scenes, with Pfeiffer's frightening display of multi-emotional skill (at once excellent and utterly ghastly), betrayed the characters. Normality was implausibly resumed, and Pfeiffer came across as at fault for taking the whole film to get real, and Willis looked much relieved that she'd taken the sanity pill and he could quit trying to change himself.

And the end was a surprise. I thought there was going to be more: a deeper level of story. But it ended without a sense of closure.