X
- 2017
- R
- A24
- 1 h 37 m
- 2017
- R
- A24
- 1 h 37 m
Summary A long-married and completely dispassionate husband (Tracy Letts) and wife (Debra Winger) are in the midst of serious affairs and are increasingly committed to their new partners. But on the brink of officially calling it quits, a spark between them suddenly and unexpectedly reignites, leading them into an impulsive romance that forces ...
Directed By: Azazel Jacobs
Written By: Azazel Jacobs
- 2017
- R
- A24
- 1 h 37 m
- 2017
- R
- A24
- 1 h 37 m
The Lovers
76
6.2
Where to Watch
Summary A long-married and completely dispassionate husband (Tracy Letts) and wife (Debra Winger) are in the midst of serious affairs and are increasingly committed to their new partners. But on the brink of officially calling it quits, a spark between them suddenly and unexpectedly reignites, leading them into an impulsive romance that forces ...
Directed By: Azazel Jacobs
Written By: Azazel Jacobs
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 31 Critic Reviews
76
90% Positive
28 Reviews
28 Reviews
10% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 31 Critic Reviews
76
90% Positive
28 Reviews
28 Reviews
10% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Its emotional reserves are deeper and more capacious, its sense of mystery more profound, than in just about any American movie of any scale I’ve seen in recent memory.
The wisdom of this meticulously crafted film is in its genuine irony, which amplifies steadily throughout until culminating in a moment of real heartbreak that, ironically enough, only sets the stage for a cycle of deceit to begin again.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 32 User Ratings
6.2
53% Positive
17 Ratings
17 Ratings
34% Mixed
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
13% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 32 User Ratings
6.2
53% Positive
17 Ratings
17 Ratings
34% Mixed
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
13% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
At first sight it might seem like a story already seen - A middle-aged couple in crisis - but this is A24 and conventional stories are not their demographic. It is true that sometimes they fail but to my see they didn't do it with this one.
I compare it with Enough Said, which I recently saw because like that film, it tells a mature story about adults and those kind of dramas and comedies are needed and The Lovers is precisely that, a fresh look at an old argument.
It's not really renovating but it's definitely worth it.
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This film should be considered a melodrama, not because of the traditional definition, but because of the wretched orchestral accompaniment that pervades this film like a soap opera. Debra Winger and Tracy Letts play a long-time couple in a stale marriage. Both of them are having an affair and headed for divorce when they re-discover their love for each other. Since the plot is relatively simple, it's up to the performances and direction to make it work. Luckily, Winger and Letts are both wonderfully nuanced as the couple in a complex situation. The filmmaking is less successful. In addition to the music that's distracting as hell, the plot meanders thru the interactions with an "adult" pace (meaning slow). Still, this film tells a mature and appealing story.
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Writer-director Azazel Jacobs has made a very smart movie about a very dumb idea.
Letts has some fine moments, but it’s Winger who really brings the color to this movie, creating a woman filled with disappointment and passion and wit, taking a small-scale comedy of manners to a darker, richer place.
The Lovers is a compact tale, a chamber music melodrama underscored by lavish, romantic strings and a Prokofiev waltz. It never quite escapes the stage-bound feeling.
Director Azazel Jacobs has written (with Winger in mind) an unapologetically adult movie, in which it’s assumed that people in their 50s are as sexual and screwed up as people in their 20s and it’s a given that yearning never ends.
Falling with a thud between two stools, it has neither the zip nor the zaniness of farce nor the airy vivacity of the best romantic comedies.
Discovering that the lead actress was Debra Winger was shocking to me. I'm sure she looks great in real life, but in the film she seems so old and tired -- despite a percolating love life with a lover played by Aidan Gillen! She's a good metaphor, though, for her old and tired marriage, which both she and her husband are having a hard time ditching. A French version of this film would have a lot more wit and insights, and some aspects seem improbable. Still, you might find it interesting if you like relationship dramas.
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a scoreboard mentality..
The Lovers
The Lovers is a character driven romantic drama whose quirky perspective and the lens through which it views monogamy, is thoroughly entertaining. Ticking for around 90 minutes, it easily charms its way out, but unfortunately none is wiser when the curtain drops. The structure of the premise is textbook which makes its first act basically an introduction where the makers are spending most of the time on setting the plots and characters. But they do it with such panache that the grace respects the material in here.
Having said that, it doesn't suggest that it is appropriately bred, in fact if anything it makes the rest on it unstable act riding with an uneven pace. The chemistry between the lead character is the glue that holds it all, through thick and thin and believe it or not, the features fluctuates a lot. It's the equation of son arriving on screen, elevates the self-mocked script into an unexpected territory that is straight out fired bullet. It falls flatly on technical aspects like cinematography and editing along with background score although the last song sung by Letts is impressive. The camera work is appreciative and is shot with neat and clean props and location that makes it light and breezy; at least for the most part of it. Winger is complicated, Letts is confident and Gillen is impressive as always but Walters is the additional surprising little package that explodes loud and clear. The writer-director Jacobs is much smarter than it seems as its props are well set and tiny notions that resembles eerily with practicality. Zipped up frustration, humoristic script and amazing performance are the high points of the feature. The Lovers has a scoreboard mentality that is tossed on the name of monogamy but with a heartwarming touch that is felt by the viewers.
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MEH. My wife and I decided to see it based on critic reviews and were sorely disappointed. Almost left a few times, but hoped it would improve. Not a comedy, except I did laugh out loud when the guy behind us had spilled an entire bag of M&M peanuts during a quiet moment. Personally, I thought Melora Walters nailed her character quite convincingly, good job! Debra Winger played her character very well and Letts was not bad, just not believable as the husband, not his acting just the way he looks in this film. Overall, the story was not that believable. I have to agree with others, sorry Mandy Hoffman, but the soundtrack was just awful. It did not set the mood at all and was almost torturous hearing it throughout the feature. The end of the story just did not make any sense at all.
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What started out as an already tedious and snobbish film lost just about all credibility with me due to what I considered to be an unbelievably weak and unlikable ending with absolutely no payoff, which I also think is quite an accurate way of describing all of the characters in the film as well. In addition, the film and its premise felt ridiculously pedestrian throughout, and like I said before, none of the characters in this film were likable at all, and do nothing but make dumb, selfish decisions from start to finish. Overall, everything that I mentioned above made this feel like a pointless and unlikable film. The only thing that kept me from giving this film a slightly lower rating is some of the slightly interesting chemistry and scenes between Debra Winger and Tracy Letts, whom I both really like normally. Other than that, this film isn't really worth anyone's time if you ask me.
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Awards
Columbus Film Critics Association
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
London Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
Film Independent Spirit Awards
• 1 Nomination
