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| Directed by Rob Reiner; Starring Bruce Willis, Michele Pfeiffer, Tim Matheson, Rob Reiner, Rita Wilson, Paul Reiser, Julie Hagerty, Colleen Rennison, Jake Sandvig, Jayne Meadows, Tom Poston, Betty White, and Red Buttons |
There are some directors that I never can make up my mind as to whether I trust them. Names like Robert Altman and Francis Ford Coppola come to mind. Another name would be the crowned king of unpredictable: Rob Reiner. Sometimes I am astounded by Reiner with films like A Few Good Men and Misery, sometimes I’m indifferent with films like This Is Spinal Tap and The American President, often I’m disappointed with Ghosts of Mississippi and North. In fact, now that I think about it, North is one of the worst films I’ve ever seen. Then again, Reiner has also offered one of the best romantic comedies in my humble opinion. When Harry Met Sally… was the best of its genre for the eighties and the best since Woody Allen’s Annie Hall. I still like to look back at that film and remember a good romantic comedy instead of this Runaway Bride crap I’ve had to sit through recently. With the success of When Harry Met Sally… I was actually allowing myself to look forward towards The Story of Us, a type of When Harry Met Sally…and Then Separated.
After fifteen years of marriage, Ben (Willis) and Katie Jordan (Pfeiffer) find themselves at a marital slump. Neither of them are truly happy together anymore and only produce a visage of happiness for their two children (Rennison and Sandvig). When the two kids are shipped off to summer camp, the couple decides to spend time in separate homes and Ben moves into a hotel room. The film pretty much looks at what has happened to them both presently and in the past, and at the whole idea of marriage through the eyes of their tremendously in need of psycho therapy friends (Wilson, Reiner, Reiser, and Hagerty).
The film is a bore, not only because there is not moment of true joy, but also because the whole film seems like a big fight. The two spend the duration of the film bickering and remembering bickering. The ending is so implausible that I felt like throwing my bag of overly buttered popcorn at the screen, or at least at Reiner. Neither of the leads give any performance that might be considered for a Golden Globe (then again, we must remember it is the Golden Globes). The film is overlong and pushed. I did actually like the music by Eric Clapton and Mark Shaiman, at least until they played the same “I’m sorry” piece for the tenth time. The only thing that I liked without a hitch was a quick montage of the marriage that goes by in the last reel. Of course this montage was the theatrical trailer, so it would actually be more enjoyable to simply watch the trailer and not the movie.
