Married Life directed by Ira Sachs, is a dark and witty comedy of manners with a big dash of psychological thriller. Set in 1949, the plot is about Harry Allen (the formidable Chris Cooper), an apparently successful businessman. See, Harry seems to have it all, successful career, nice house, sex-driven wife (sublime Patricia Clarkson), he is living THE life! Except poor Harry longs for true love and that is missing. In comes Kay Nesbitt (lovely Rachel McAdams), a young war widow with whom Harry has an affair. Things turn for the bad when Harry presents Kay to his best pal, Richard Langley (the always suave Pierce Brosnan) who immediately falls for the young widow. Much worse, Harry plans to marry Kay and decides to poison his wife because he “loves” and respect her so much and knows she would be crushed by a divorce.

I will start with the negatives: The ending is unsatisfying and disappointing as Sachs took the easy path instead of digging deeper or darker. This movie would have been excellent instead of merely good,  had the ending been over the edge of darkness instead of going for the usual satisfying Hollywood ending. The pacing of the movie is inconsistent and choosing to have Kay Nesbitt being so young was also questionable because we have to wonder why she would love Harry, a guy who could easily be her dad. I would say have Kay be a bit older, maybe in her early 40′s, cast someone older for the role and the movie would still work but without the nagging question.

On the positive side, The movie is refreshing in how it is built: an Hitchcokian atmosphere with an elegant re-creation of the 1940′s. The cars, the houses, the sets, the chain smoking, the clothes are all realistic and marvelously rich. Pierce Brosnan did the voice-over narration which added another touch of old times to the movie.  Another thing that worked really well is the amount of tension and suspense Sachs is able to achieve out of several scenes involving Harry and his plans to poison his wife. The characters were interesting in that they turned out to be completely different from what you expect on first impression. You would think Harry Allen is in love with Kay because of how physically attractive she is. He is, however, in love with her because of their spiritual connection. Classic Hitchcock platinum blonde Kay, would seem at first sight to be your run-of-the-mill bimbo or gold-digger but she is actually an honorable and thoughtful woman looking to heal her wounds. Harry’s wife, Pat, turns out to be a lot less devoted to her husband than first thought while Richard does his best to seduce Kay away from his best friend.

The ensemble cast is outstanding and is highlighted by Chris Cooper who shows he can carry a movie instead of just being a solid supporting actor. He was perfect as the repressed husband ready to explode but unsure of how to express his desires to his own wife. He showers his wife with the type of tenderness one would when feeling guilty of cheating on her. Cooper had good chemistry with the excellent Patricia Clarkson, who in many ways had the most complex character. Pierce Brosnan is also starting to distance himself from his 007 days and in a good way, using his charm to seduce Kay away from Harry. His character doesn’t feel remorse or  shame for betraying his friend, he just accepts the inevitability of it and Brosnan gives a strong and assured performance. Finally, Rachel McAdams was impressively understated and subtle as Kay, demonstrating her acting chops in one of her strongest performance to date. She gives her character an undercurrent of sadness, intelligence, and vulnerability and plays on even terms with her much more experienced co-stars. On an aside note, it’s nice to see that she turned down several comic book hero type characters such as the Pepper Potts’ role in Ironman, Sue Storm in Fantastic Four and the Rachel Dawes’ role in The Dark Knight.  It’s refreshing to see for once someone who truly wants to work on her craft, and not necessarily be a movie star.

Not for everyone but terrific performance from the ensemble cast and a long-bygone Hitchcokian atmosphere make this small indie a refreshing breath of air. Don’t take this movie too seriously and you will most likely find it funny and enjoyable.