The Secret Lives of Dentists

To be honest, I've never been much of a fan of Campbell Scott or Dennis Leary. For that matter, I've usually found director Alan Rudolph's films snail paced and DULL. You can make a slow movie that works (i.e. Michael Mann's The Insider), but it's difficult. As usual, Campbell seems to be in a semi-coma. How the hell is he the product of two such dynamic actors as the last George C. Scott and Colleen Dewhurst? Both of them were such vibrant magnetic people. Was he cowed by them?

So, we end up with the nasty, ugly Dennis Leary stealing the show. Hope Davis, who is so luminous as the schleppy Mrs Harvey Pekar is also reduced to a dullard, who might be having an affair with the conductor of the opera she appears in at the beginning of the movie. Did I have to mention that? Did this movie have to be made? All I know, if someone I was living with said that they could kill me out loud, let alone in front of our kids, I'd be out of there, helter skelter, no questions asked!

THE SECRET LIFE OF DENTISTS (2003) ***1/2 Campbell Scott, Hope Davis, Denis Leary, Robin Tunney, Gianna Beleno, Cassidy Hinkle, Lydia Jordan. Filmmaker Alan Rudolph plumbs the depths of dark social comedy with this ingenious adaptation of Jane Smiley's novel 'The Age of Grief' with a skillful screenplay by playwright Craig Lucas about a reasonably happily married couple (Scott and Davis at career highs here showcasing his trademark cerebral comic capabilities and her patented chilly brittleness) whose dental practice together serves a razor-sharp metaphor for their suddenly troubled relationship when the seed of doubt is planted by the assumption of Scott that Davis is having an affair only to be manipulated by his over-active imagination imbued by an alter ego he sees in the form of a sarcastic patient (Leary doing some of his snappy disgruntled shtick to full effect) who allows his blacker sides to show. Family life has never been more keenly observed in this funny and surprisingly poignant look at how marriage can be a true test of faith in a complacent lifestyle of empty fulfillment. Has the feel of a latter day John Cheever parable of suburban hell. Point of interest, this film re-unites the protagonist trio from Scott's experimental film 'Final' a year ago.

Based upon the quality of The Moderns and Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, I went to see this at the D.C. Film Festival and walked out of the theater and straight into a saloon to mourn the loss of my ticket money with some gin. Insufferable.

"The Secret Lives of Dentists" is a wonderful evocation of fatherhood and the power of paternal feelings, even while it's showing a marriage in crisis.

Campbell Scott is the antithesis of his ego-centric child-man in "Roger Dodger" to present a loving, if repressed, father and husband who is shook to the very core of his being by suspicions of his wife's infidelity.

Playwright Craig Lucas adapts Jane Smiley's novella (I read "Age of Grief" but only remember it as a brittle slice of realism about marriage and family) by using a similar technique as in "A Beautiful Mind" in having conversations with hyper Denis Leary to let us inside the panic in the husband's mind. Especially well shown, with beautiful editing, cinematography, and music, are his stream-of-consciousness memories of his meeting, courting, and living with his wife.

Hope Davis doesn't get to do much more than Meryl Streep did in "Kramer vs. Kramer," but she adds significantly to her actual lines with luminous acting, especially when we see how happy she is when she's away from her ball-and-chain, though we get very little other explanation for her behavior or choices.

This movie has absolutely the most vivid depiction of what it's like to be stuck at home with sick kids; the very young child actors are the most natural and delightful I've ever seen in the movies. The spreading fever becomes a wonderful metaphor for the state of the marriage and a way to release Dad's fantasy life even more, as well as a realistic family crisis.

Friends of my parents served as dental consultants; their names are spelled wrong, but those aren't the only misspellings in the credits.

I just saw this movie last night, and I thought it was absolutely compelling. A perfect example of that rare Hollywood movie that actually uses "show and tell", instead of car chases and hit you over the head non-reality. I ached with each facial expression of anger, fear and doubt. I can see how a lot of people would not like this movie. I think because it is slow, subtle, and full of nuances, it may be more to a woman's liking. Maybe the fact that I've been married for 25 years, I can relate to the realistic portrayals. The actors were stellar, especially Campbell Scott and the three little girls that played his children. I became very attached to this family, and wanted them to stay together no matter what, which I think was the point of the movie. Marriage is not just sweetness and light or happy endings, but the making of memories good and bad,the struggles and triumphs, and the commitment it takes to making family dynamics work for the benefit of all. Quite frankly, I just can't stop thinking about this movie, which for me, is the greatest compliment of all.