Hope Springs

January 3, 2014 - Meryl Streep hopes Steve Carell can help save her marriage to Tommy Lee Jones in this 2012 romantic comedy for the mature set. David Frankel, who directed Streep in 2006's The Devil Wears Prada directs a supporting cast that features Elisabeth Shue, Jean Smart and Mimi Rogers.

Streep and Jones play Kay and Arnold, a couple married for 31 years. Arnold is an accountant and Kay brings in some extra cash by working at a clothing store. Their marriage has settled into a routine where they sleep in separate rooms and barely communicate. Kay seems ready to bail, but decides to give it one more shot by signing up for a week of intensive couple's therapy with Dr. Feld (Carell).

Feld has his office in Hope Springs, Maine. Arnold is none too happy about the 1,500-mile trip, the cost of eating out, or the exercises that Feld prescribes during his sessions. Still, Arnold makes an effort. The question is will it be enough to keep Kay from leaving?

Overall review: ** I managed to make it through the entire movie, and it's not a completely horrible film. But, Streep, who has the ability to rise above mediocre material (see Mamma Mia!), can't provide such magic here. She and Jones have to carry the movie, and they lack the chemistry to do it. And, quite honestly, given the way Jones' character talks down to Kay, I don't know why she wants to save the marriage in the first place.