The Lovers Review
R: Sexuality and Language
A24
1 Hr and 34 Minutes
Cast: Debra Winger, Tracy Letts, Aidan Gillen, Melora Walters, Tyler Ross, Jessica Sula
Many years into their dispassionate marriage, a long-married couple — both seriously involved with other people — has settled into an independent yet friendly arrangement. But pressure is mounting from their respective partners to fully commit, so Mary (a luminous Debra Winger) and Michael (Broadway legend Tracy Letts) amicably resolve to call it quits. To their surprise, their decision to separate reignites a dormant spark, which leads to an impulsive and passionate affair. Their newfound affection forces them to navigate the uncharted terrain and hilarious complications that come with "cheating" on their respective lovers. Things become even more complicated when their son arrives home for a visit with his new girlfriend.
THE GOOD: Right off the bat the film establishes this couple is seeing other people. It doesn’t show you how this person met this person or how this person met the other person. No, the movie just drops you off in their lives and show that these guys are cheating on each other. From the every beginning, you see the couple Michael and Mary, are more affectionate to their lovers than with each other. Neither Mary or Michael are unaware of each other having secret lovers. They’re not in an open marriage or anything, for they’re just casually cheating on each other and not even smooth about it either. They could honestly care less about who they’re seeing as long as they don’t see each other.
They can’t have normal conversations cause they’re so awkward around each other. Their relationship is not even based on love anymore, it's just routine now. As an audience member, you don’t even think it was love that got them together in the first place. You can tell these two have been married forever and most likely stayed together because of the birth of their son. Their lives are so gray that they’re drained by both their job and by each other that something like an affair would add a slither of a spark in their lives. They don’t even argue with each other they just barely talk to each other.
This is the breakout movie for writer/director Azazel Jacobs for the movie is brilliantly written and put together. It has the quiet atmosphere of a Jason Reitman film, the smart comedic trappings of a Judd Apatow film, and a mature premise of a Woody Allen film. The movie turns into "This is 50," by the 30-minute mark. When Michael and Mary fall for each other again, it's both natural cute. You go from not knowing how they fall for each other into “Aw, this is why they fall for each other.”
What I love about this movie is its quietness. It's not loud and in your face with these characters as a lot of other romantic comedy films of this type like The Dilemma is. Nobody barely raises their voice in this film. It has a chill tone that’s charming enough to keep you enticed all the way through. Where romantic comedies today all follow the same tropes, The Lovers is originally fresh. You have no idea where the movie is going to go as you’re along for the ride. You care for Michael and Mary not as characters but as people. You even care about their secret lovers when they begin to lose disinterest in them because of how constant Michael and Mary are screwing around with each other.
Another thing I love about this film is its score. It is whimsical and reminds me of classic Disney Alan Menken/Randy Newman scores but it works. The music really moves the film’s story along. It expresses the characters’ emotions and their relationship like what film scores should do. The music is composed by Mandy Hoffman and I hope he comes up into scoring more films because I feel he can score a Pixar film and it'll become iconic.
The humor isn't forced for its natural and thoroughly fun especially when it comes out of Tracy Letts. Lets n this movie is downright hysterical. I’ve never seen him in a movie before and he charmed the pants out of me. He and Winger have great chemistry throughout, but Letts just made me laugh so constant and so hard he quickly became the movie's heart. His character reminds me of a mature Jason Segal in *insert Judd Apatow comedy here* minus the man-child part mixed in with Homer Simpson.
THE BAD: By the last thirty minutes of this movie where Mary and Michael’s son Joel, comes home, I felt the movie reached its peak. The movie uses the last 30 minutes to add more depth to these characters and the relationships between Joel and his parents. The film tended to drag for a bit at that point, but it never became dull. It was moving at a very fast pace, that by the last act everything just slowed down and you felt it. It's like starting your treadmill workout at full speed then slow it down once you start to feel your fatigue. Other than that I have no other problems with this movie because I had a blast watching this. The Lovers is one of the funniest and heartwarming romantic comedies I’ve seen in a long long time. In fact, this is one of my favorite movies I’ve seen this year that I hope to see again. It has a significantly perfect blend of story, drama, comedy, and romance with both great characters and a great heart.
LAST STATEMENT: Smart, charming, original, and hysterically heartwarming, The Lovers is a peaceful and rare romantic comedy from breakout writer/director Azazel Jacobs that perfectly balances the two words in its genre.
Rating: 4.5/5 | 92%
Super Scene: Bringing Home the Duck
