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Love is Strange
2014's Love is Strange is a sweet and sad drama about a lovely couple torn apart by circumstance that, despite some self-indulgence direction, is completely riveting thanks to the lead performances by two of the best actors in the business.
John Lithgow and Alfred Molina star as Ben and George, respectively. Ben is an artist and George is a music teacher who have been lovers for 40 years and have lived in the same Manhattan apartment for 20. As the film opens, Ben and George are finally getting married, but this move finds George losing his job. Financial restraints force Ben and George to sell their apartment, rendering them homeless. With no other options, Ben must move in with his nephew Elliott, his wife Kate, and their son Joey whole George moves in with a pair of gay cops who live downstairs in their building.
Director and screenwriter Ira Sachs does score here on a number of levels. He has created a love story where the central characters are not only well over the age of 21 but are also gay. The story has us fall in love with Ben and George five minutes into the movie and then they are physically separated about ten minutes later. The story then makes some prickly moves as Ben's presence in his nephew's house is causing all kinds of tension because his wife and son have to deal with him most of the time. Meanwhile, George is working tirelessly to make new living arrangements for them and finding doors closing everywhere they turn.
Yes, I would have liked to have seen Lithgow and Molina spend more time onscreen together, but the story really isn't about their love, which is made clear almost immediately. The movie is about how their separation affects the people who are trying to help them. The change that Ben's presence brings to Kate from the beginning of the movie to the end is not pretty, but it is achingly real, not to mention Joey, who is unable to deal with his 71 year old granduncle sleeping in the bunk bed below him.
Sachs brings a great deal of sensitivity to the story, but his direction is a little self-indulgent, allowing certain scenes to play longer than they should. Fortunately, Lithgow and Molina are so good we tend to forgive the minor problems with the film and cherish every moment they're onscreen together. They do receive solid support from Darren Burrows as Elliott, Oscar winner Marisa Tomei as Kate, Charlie Tahan as Joey and Eric Tabad as Joey's BFF Vlad. A lovely little film that completely enveloped this reviewer, though I will confess, I don't really understand the title.
2014's Love is Strange is a sweet and sad drama about a lovely couple torn apart by circumstance that, despite some self-indulgence direction, is completely riveting thanks to the lead performances by two of the best actors in the business.
John Lithgow and Alfred Molina star as Ben and George, respectively. Ben is an artist and George is a music teacher who have been lovers for 40 years and have lived in the same Manhattan apartment for 20. As the film opens, Ben and George are finally getting married, but this move finds George losing his job. Financial restraints force Ben and George to sell their apartment, rendering them homeless. With no other options, Ben must move in with his nephew Elliott, his wife Kate, and their son Joey whole George moves in with a pair of gay cops who live downstairs in their building.
Director and screenwriter Ira Sachs does score here on a number of levels. He has created a love story where the central characters are not only well over the age of 21 but are also gay. The story has us fall in love with Ben and George five minutes into the movie and then they are physically separated about ten minutes later. The story then makes some prickly moves as Ben's presence in his nephew's house is causing all kinds of tension because his wife and son have to deal with him most of the time. Meanwhile, George is working tirelessly to make new living arrangements for them and finding doors closing everywhere they turn.
Yes, I would have liked to have seen Lithgow and Molina spend more time onscreen together, but the story really isn't about their love, which is made clear almost immediately. The movie is about how their separation affects the people who are trying to help them. The change that Ben's presence brings to Kate from the beginning of the movie to the end is not pretty, but it is achingly real, not to mention Joey, who is unable to deal with his 71 year old granduncle sleeping in the bunk bed below him.
Sachs brings a great deal of sensitivity to the story, but his direction is a little self-indulgent, allowing certain scenes to play longer than they should. Fortunately, Lithgow and Molina are so good we tend to forgive the minor problems with the film and cherish every moment they're onscreen together. They do receive solid support from Darren Burrows as Elliott, Oscar winner Marisa Tomei as Kate, Charlie Tahan as Joey and Eric Tabad as Joey's BFF Vlad. A lovely little film that completely enveloped this reviewer, though I will confess, I don't really understand the title.