Stars: William Hurt as Macon Leary, Geena Davis as Muriel Pritchett and Kathleen Turner as Sarah Leary, wife of William.
Macon and Sarah are struggling to rebuild their lives after the loss of their son; shot and killed by a mass murderer.
Macon attempts to cope by creating and maintaining a sense of routine and predictability.
But to cope Sarah needs change. This leaves her at odds with Macon and she decides to divorce him and live on her own.
Macon writes travel books filled with advice on how to avoid experiencing the strange and new while traveling.
Into Macon's safe, circumscribed world comes Murial Pritchett.
Murial is a single mom who faces much financial hardship with somewhat unfounded optimism.
She has left no stone unturned in her struggle to stay afloat financially: dog boarding, grooming, training... whatever is needed and she can do.
And she is determined to find a man to be in her son's life.
When Macon enters her dog grooming business in "desperate" need of dog boarding, she notes he is single and launches an immediate, obvious and aggressive campaign for Macon.
Though Murial and Macon have almost nothing in common Macon is drawn to Murial.
Macon uses Murial and her son's great and very real need as his rationalization for this attraction. They bring a purpose and shape to his life.
Is Macon's need for a safe routine in which to live his life simply greater than his aversion to Murial?
In a subplot Macon's sister and Julian, his publisher have a similar, parallel romance. That romance too is based on needs.
Macon feared change. Murial faced serious circumstantial limitations. But how many of our needs can we reasonably expect others to fill? And at what cost? At the end of the movie I feel they have all lost something more than their way home.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
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