Mr. and Mrs. Bridge

Mr.&Mrs. Bridge is an interesting character study of a pair of a typical married couple during the years before our entry into World War II. The film does provide a good insight into the American mindset of a Republican oriented couple of the period, hardly the political orientation of its two stars.

Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward are the Bridges with two daughters and a son who are all reaching adulthood. Kyra Sedgwick is the rebellious Bohemian type who just wants to shake the dust of her conservative roots and fly. Maureen Collins wants to get married and she makes a disastrous choice of a husband. But that is partly to get away from her father's ideas. And son Robert Sean Leonard is an Eagle Scout and apparently a chip of dad's old block. But he thinks there is more to life than his father's ideas. He's looking to join the army.

The film netted Joanne Woodward an Oscar nomination for Best Actress and she is the most interesting character in the film. She longs to recapture her youth when Newman was apparently a far more passionate individual than the stuffed shirt lawyer. She tries to shake Newman out of his smug complacency, but ultimately fails.

The Bridges are an interesting pair, but ultimately not very satisfying. I have to applaud the characterizations which are first rate, but this story which seemed really not to have a point just left me cold.

However fans of Newman and Woodward will like Mr.&Mrs. Bridge.

the two books this movie was based on are some of my favorites. they perfectly, poignantly, and sometimes humorously capture the lives of an upper middle class couple of their time. the movie did a good job getting some parts right, but of course it pales in comparison to the two books. for those who live in or know kansas city well, its an interesting film. i live in the neighborhood in which it was set and go to the same places the characters did. otherwise, its still an interesting study of the lives of its time period.

My review was written in August 1990 after watching the film at a TriBeCa screening room.

Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward plus the Merchant Ivory Productions team are in top form for "Mr. & Mrs. Bridge", an affecting study of an uppercrust Midwestern family 50 years ago. Obvious contender for Venice Film Festival prizes shapes up as a potent arthouse entry this winter.

Merchant Ivory collaborator Ruth Prawer Jhabvalla has adapted the two Evan S. Connell novels into a taut script. Books "Mrs. Bridge" (1959) and "Mr. Bridge" (1969) painted (from each spouse's point of view) a portrait of stuffy Kansas City lawyer Walter Bridge and his stifled wife India, by a steady accretion of anecdotal detail.

The screenplay presents a series of highly dramatic scenes in their lives, the payoffs among the novels' hundreds of brief chapters. The vignette structure is retained, but pic's two hours breeze by thanks to director James Ivory's concise approach and crisp editing (including careful wipes) by Humphrey Dixon.

Central theme of India Bridge's gradual realization that her life has been crushed in her husband's shadow is strongly conveyed by Woodward in the role.

Physically resembling the late Geraldine Page, she should be in the Oscar running this year for a nuanced, often funny portrayal of a multidimensional woman whose options have gradually been snuffed out.

Casting of hubby Newman as her husband resonates in their intimate scenes, particularly a 1939 vacation to Paris when the Bridges briefly rekindle their romance, only to have it cut short by the onset of World War II.

Newman's controlled perforance as the iron-willed condervative is both a carerr hange of pace and highlight.

While Inid abeocmes inceaingly furstrated with being a housewife and country club member, a change is in the wind. Best friend Grace (Blythe Danner perky in film's showiest role) is a kook and free spirit. Their mutal pal Grace Ong (singer Gale Garnett in an arresting brief turn) boasts of the values of psychoanalysis. All three Bridge offspring are in open rebellion against their parents and conservative society.

Kyra Sedgwick, recently Tom Cruise's girlfriend in "Born on the Fourth of July", is smashing as the Bridges' bohemian daughter who takes off for New York and an arts career. Feisty Margaret Welsh has a show-stopping scene telling her mom off after her defiant marriage to a boy from across the tracks ends up on the rocks. Robert Sean Leonard as the duo's son is solid in key emotional scenes with Woodward and Newman.

Pic's climax retains the shattering finale of "Mrs. Bridge", but presents it in a different context. Careful selection of supporting players pays off: stage thesp Diane Kagana is a powerhouse as Newman's secretary, expressing her pain at having been equally neglected by him for 20 years. Sanudra McClain is a tower of strength as the family's maid, and Austin Pendleton and Simon Callow provide comic relief.

Producer Ismail Merchant has arranged for impressive period detail including set pieces such as a tornado while Newman calmly dines with his wife at the country club and an evocative trip to Pari. Tech credits by MIP regulars are of a high standard, notably Tony Pierce-Roberts' sharp focus photography and Richard Robbins' spare, threatening musical score.

An amusing end credit reads: "Shakespearean tutor to Mr. Newman: Sen. Bob Dole", referring to the Kansas politician's reading of "Romeo and Juliet" to help the star develop his flinty characterization.

This film is based on two utterly unique novels by Evan S. Connell called 'Mrs. Bridge' and a companion novel published some years later, 'Mr. Bridge'. In 'Mrs. Bridge' Connell presents events in the title character's life and marriage, always from her heartbreakingly naive perspective, yet managing to convey the true nature of the events at the same time. This brilliant technique results in a portrait that is as much comic as it is pathetic. In 'Mr. Bridge' the author presents the same marriage, this time from Mr. Bridge's perspective, a much less comic, though no less tormented character.

The film fails to find an equivalent technique to present the parallel perspectives of the novel, those of the two main characters as well as an omnicient, often ironic narrator.

Nevertheless, I think the film could have succeeded more than it does if it were not for the misconceived role of Mrs. Bridge. First of all Joanne Woodward is too old for the part by twenty years or more and appears more like the children's grandmother than their mother. Secondly, she, and the author and director, create a highly emotional, always-on-the-verge-of-tears character that totally misses the central theme of the novel which is that Mrs. Bridge is completely out of touch with her emotional self. Her unhappiness lies deep beneath the surface of her everyday life. She copes by either doing as she is told by her husband, or by resorting to platitudes or the values of her middle class upbringing. In one of the first scenes of the film, Mrs. Bridge bursts into tears in her husband's presence and expresses insights about their marriage that are completely beyond the capability of the character in the novel. This robs the film of any chance of catching the ironic tone of the novels.

Paul Newman is perfect as Mr. Bridge, but again without the interior perspective, much of the essence of the novel is lost. The other actors are all fine, especially Blythe Danner. The scene in which Danner tries to explain to Mrs. Bridge the depth of her unhappiness and Mrs. Bridge can only respond with bromides and offers of tea gives a hint of what the film could have been.

The film is certainly a noble failure and worth seeing. But if you want a completely brilliant reading experience, get the novels.

This is definitely a nitch film that will not appeal to a mass audience. It's a rather uneventful story of a mid-western upper class WASP family, and the cultural milieu of their times. Set in the time frame of pre-World War II America, it is a series of vignettes of various characters' lives. Everything about the production is first class; from the acting to the lush settings. This is a film for those who prefer subtlety over action. This ain't a popcorn film, it is a movie for a quiet time where you can sit back and watch a serious character study. Too, a knowledge of the history of the time would be nice -- but not essential. I'll give it a solid *8*.