Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Married Life Blu-ray Movie Review

This good looking period piece wears out its welcome too early.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman September 1, 2008

I always thought marriage was a mild kind of illness, like the flu or chicken pox, to which I was safely immune.

Married Life is a technically sound motion picture with shades of several genres intertwined into a classic "who's cheatin' who?" tale but with a noir twist, all of which would make for an interesting short. Spread to a 90 minute movie, however, it becomes a bloated snoozer. The first half of the movie is entertaining and sure to pique curiosity, but once the thrill of the clever ideas that make up its plot wear out their welcome and audiences continually find themselves two or three steps ahead of the action, the luster quickly vanishes and the only mystery that remains is who in the audience will stay awake through the entire movie.

This fork may do the job just as well as that powder...

Harry Allen (Chris Cooper, The Patriot) is leaving his longtime wife Pat (Patricia Clarkson, No Reservations) because he wants to be "truly happy," and he seems to have found the girl that will make his life complete in the much younger and more attractive widow, Kay (Rachel McAdams, Red Eye). Harry turns to his longtime friend Richard (Pierce Brosnan, Die Another Day) to ease the transition and serve as a sounding board for his problems. The "good hearted" Harry cannot bring himself to hurt and humiliate Pat through divorce, so he plans on killing her instead. Meanwhile, Richard and Kay begin seeing one another, and perhaps more so than Harry would like. Married Life is a tale of friendship, romance, and lust, where people are your bedfellow or best friend one day and enjoying the company of another or backstabbing you the next.

There is no denying the generally smart and witty script, fantastic costumes and settings, and fine performances from several gifted actors in roles that allow for some well-done over-exaggerated acting to place the film firmly in its 1940s setting and cinematic style. One can even admire the smart story, plausibility, and reality-driven yet fantastically-overreaching plot that is simple in its complexity. We watch as it weaves together a tangled tale of emotions, both physical and mental, emotions that bring out the best and worst in everybody we meet on-screen. There is a grace to the material, and the burgeoning curiosity the tale engenders in its viewers will keep them interested to a point. Kudos to the actors for doing a great job, props to the writers for penning something different, and job-well-done for the crew that put this one together. Married Life combines all the features that make for a winning picture, but the veneer begins to wear thin an hour or so into the movie as the film begins to drag, the story's secrets no longer remain all that secret, and a lethargy about the final acts slows the pace and dulls the viewer into a lackadaisical stupor where they really don't care how the movie will end or what it has to offer.

It's important to state what Married Life is and what Married Life is not. What it is a sometimes smart modern-day noir piece that not only takes place in the 1940s, but the film looks and sounds like it belongs in the 1940s, replete with a hint of sepia tones and a wardrobe to die for. It's also a tale of love, passion, deception, guilt, and hurt, assembled through dialogue, situations, reactions, and plot twists that are almost foreign to audiences who have come to expect nothing more than the cookie-cutter "cheating" movies of recent vintage and set in modern times. The freshness of the setting is the saving grace here, but the movie simply becomes too much of the same and drags itself out far too long than needed to tell its story. What Married Life is not is a "chick flick" or a romantic comedy. It's a drama, but a drama with a twist, that twist being that the characters come from a different age, an age where people had the same vices and shortcomings as they do today, but the intrigue of the movie lies in watching how the characters handle their feelings of pleasure and guilt and their reactions to the actions of those around them. The four primaries -- Cooper, Brosnan, Clarkson, and McAdams -- all play their roles admirably well in the context of the style and feel of the movie.

Married Life Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Married Life comes to Blu-ray with a fine looking 1080p, 1.85:1 transfer. The transfer is far better than average, sporting excellent detail and texture. The tie Richard wears at the beginning of the movie looks as real and lifelike as if it were on the the rack or on a mannequin at the local men's store and you were looking at it in real life. Clothing in general is a star of the movie, and the finer subtleties of the fabrics and the flow of the garments shine under the Blu-ray spotlight. Flesh tones veer to the red rather than the natural, but this fits in with the specific look of the movie as a whole. The film's colors are strong but not vibrant, slightly tinted by a sepia tone that gives the movie that old-fashioned feel. Black levels are strong and natural with no artificial brightening or gray tints to them, but shadow detail is sometimes less than ideal. Generally sharp and defined, there are a few instances where the transfer becomes soft in medium-wide shots, such as those featuring dense foliage on the sides of a country road. Grain is visible over the entirety of the image but lends a nice balance to the look of the film and the time and place depicted therein. Married Life looks great on Blu-ray, and this video transfer is the disc's strong suit.

Married Life Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack on Married Life is fine, but far from exhilarating. Given the subject material, however, one should not expect a whiz-bang surround sound experience or window-shattering lows. The audio is front heavy, but clean. The opening music has a vintage sound to it not only in style but in presentation. It's nice and clear, but with a hint of a rough edge that fits in well with the old fashioned visuals it accompanies. Dialogue occasionally has to work hard to be heard clearly over music, but there are no issues with volume or clarity when music does not accompany it. We occasionally hear some decent atmospherics, such as in chapter four when Richard visits Kay. We can hear birds chirping outside and other niceties, but they all emanate from the front soundstage, leaving the rear silent. The subsequent sequence featuring Richard and Kay in a diner also features good atmospherics, such as a song playing in the left front speaker or the clanking of silverware off to the side, but again, the rears remain inactive. Even the more lively date montage in chapter nine is very front-heavy. The lack of a distinct surround presence is not necessarily a hinderance to the presentation of the film. Surrounds do pop up on occasion, such as during a brief thunderstorm scene in chapter 13. The subwoofer also takes the day off with this one. All things considered, Married Life features just the kind of soundtrack one would expect from a movie such as this one, and as such it neither ranks high nor low on the scale of best to worst soundtracks.

Married Life Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Married Life arrives on Blu-ray with a paltry selection of bonus materials. This set is headlined by a commentary track featuring co-writer/director Ira Sachs. Engaging, Sachs delves passionately into various aspects of the film, both the technical and the metaphorical. Sachs offers information that focuses on the casting of the film, the influence of the original novel on which the film is based (Five Roundabouts to Heaven by John Bingham, including his stint with the British MI-5 and how his background as a spy helped to shape the characters in the film), the Hitchcock-ian humor that finds its way into the story, the re-dressing of sets for subsequent shots, and so much more. Listening to Sachs discuss the film is a more enjoyable experience than watching the film itself, and his comments did make me want to re-visit the movie in the future with a different take on the film in mind. Three alternate endings (480p, 20:16) with optional commentary by Ira Sachs are included. The film's original theatrical trailer (1080p, 2:04) and additional 1080p trailers for Hancock, Persepolis, CJ7, The Band's Visit, The Jane Austen Book Club, Steep, Across the Universe, and The Company are included. Finally, this disc is BD-Live (Blu-ray profile 2.0) equipped, and accessing the feature takes viewers to Sony's standard page featuring trailers, a FAQ, a survey, and more.

Married Life Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Married Life features a good premise, great acting, and a pleasing atmosphere, but it fails as entertainment or thought-provoking cinema. It tries hard to be many things, from drama to social commentary, but never settles into a groove and begins to meander by the film's final act. Sony's Blu-ray presentation, like the movie, is nothing to brag about. Featuring solid video quality, a bland but acceptable soundtrack, and precious few extras, the disc is only worth buying for the most ardent admirers of the film. For everyone else, Married Life is probably best enjoyed as a rental.