'WE DON'T LIVE HERE' HAS NO ANSWERS FOR ITS CHEATERS.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic JOHN CURRAN'S anti-date movie ``We Don't Live Here Anymore'' opens with a shot of Naomi Watts and Laura Dern doing some wild-child dancing to an African tribal beat. It's the one sexy moment in a film grimly determined to show just how unsexy - and unsatisfying - marriage and adultery can be in the modern world. Based on a pair of short stories by Andre Dubus Andre Dubus (August 11, 1936 - February 24, 1999) was an American short story writer, essayist, and autobiographer. Biography Andre Dubus was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, the oldest child of a African-Cajun-Irish Catholic family. , ``We Don't Live Here'' follows two New England New England, name applied to the region comprising six states of the NE United States—Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The region is thought to have been so named by Capt. couples whose marriages are coming apart. Small wonder, since the members of these couples have decided (unbeknownst in one case, and a total screw-you in another) to swap partners for some soul-deadening sex. It doesn't take Dr. Phil Dr. Phil may refer to:
The film focuses primarily on Jack (Mark Ruffalo Mark Alan Ruffalo (born November 22, 1967) is an American actor. Biography Early life Ruffalo was born in the industrial town of Kenosha, Wisconsin, the son of second-generation Italian American parents Marie Rose, a hairdresser and stylist, and Frank Lawrence ), who teaches literature at Cedar Community College and is busy getting it on with Edith (Naomi Watts), the wife of colleague and fellow adulterer a·dul·ter·er n. One who commits adultery. adulterer or fem adulteress Noun a person who has committed adultery Noun 1. Hank (Peter Krause). Left out in the cold - at least for a little while - is Jack's wife, Terry (the ever-impressive Laura Dern), who starts pulling all kinds of passive-aggressive (stuff), including drinking like a fish and letting the house and the kids go to seed. Terry is the only one who wholeheartedly whole·heart·ed adj. Marked by unconditional commitment, unstinting devotion, or unreserved enthusiasm: wholehearted approval. whole loves her spouse. We're supposed to understand Jack's behavior as something of a midlife crisis midlife crisis n. A period of psychological doubt and anxiety that some people experience in middle age. midlife crisis , and while such episodes rarely make sense, this one's logic is both inscrutable and uninteresting. What motivates this despicable human being? Judging from the evidence, director Curran and screenwriter Larry Gross don't seem to know, and it's even worse with regard to Krause's Hank, with the actor playing as an extension of his ``Six Feet Under'' louse louse, common name for members of either of two distinct orders of wingless, parasitic, disease-carrying insects. Lice of both groups are small and flattened with short legs adapted for clinging to the host. . Insights? Understanding? ``We Don't Live Here Anymore'' certainly shows the desperate measures some people will use to save a marriage as well as the pettiness that others will resort to in order to destroy a union. But the deep fears and the unexpressed yearnings, captured so well by Dubus, remain hidden here, making the film a curiosity best reserved for emotional masochists. Glenn Whipp, (818) 713-3672 glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com WE DON'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE - Two and one half stars (R: sexual content, language) Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Laura Dern, Naomi Watts, Peter Krause. Director: John Curran. Running time: 1 hr. 43 min. Playing: Loews Cineplex Broadway in Santa Monica; Arclight in Hollywood; Pacific's The Grove Stadium 14 in Los Angeles. In a nutshell: Why do fools fall out of love? The filmmakers aren't sure in this grim look at two unraveling marriages. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Laura Dern, left, and Naomi Watts are unhappily married wives who have adulterous affairs with each other's husbands in ``We Don't Live Here Anymore.'' |
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