Diamondback Online - The University of Maryland's Independent Daily Student Newspaper

The late '40s were not years filled with post-war celebrations of peace and economic stability - at least, not if you ask Ira Sachs, the writer and director of Married Life. Instead, underneath each identical suburban home and bright green technicolor lawn, there was treachery and deceit.

Pierce Brosnan (The Matador) plays Richard Langley, who narrates the story of his good friends Pat (Patricia Clarkson, Lars and the Real Girl) and Harry Allen (Chris Cooper, Breach). Early on, it is revealed that Harry, while he is still very fond of his wife Pat, is bored with their life together and has moved on to better and bustier things - as in Kay (Rachel McAdams, The Family Stone), a younger woman who has been widowed by the war.

After Harry tells Richard about his affair, he introduces him to Kay, and the two take a friendly liking to each other. Then Harry is left with the decision of how to leave Pat because he is convinced he cannot begin building a relationship with Kay while he also knows Pat is alone and distraught.

However, little does Harry know that while he is satisfied with the sexual relationship he and Pat have, he is left emotionally hungry. All the while, Pat is undergoing the opposite problem while fooling around with a younger man from Richard and Harry's office.

It doesn't take many awkward and quietly unfolding scenes between Harry and Pat, in their spacious but empty-feeling suburban home, to realize they are each aware the huge house is the remaining shell of a once loving marriage. Although these scenes are boring and stale, they are perfect illustrations of each partner's feeling about the current state of life with their spouse.

It's not long before Harry decides, based on the assumption that Pat would be lost without him, that death will be a much better end for her than an embarrassing divorce. This is when we begin to see into his disturbing and confusing mind, which chooses to kill his wife rather than leave her alone.

The rest of the film follows Harry's plot to kill Pat, her growing relationship with Richard and the chaos that unfolds as a result of both of their actions. A combination of camera angles, the general pace of each scene and Cooper's acting skills make the audience care about the main characters, a significant feat as he is so disturbed.

Each of the other three main characters are one-dimensional, and therefore seem vapid instead of dynamic and interesting. However, the elaborate costumes and period-appropriate hair and makeup make for a visually stimulating film, which is much appreciated during the slower scenes focused on underdeveloped characters.

Overall, the film relies far too much on Brosnan's narration to explain the themes that should be made clear through character development. The rich visuals are intriguing, but not enough to compensate for poor character development. If each character were as dynamic as the chilling Harry Allen, the movie could have been a '40s-era boom - instead, it's just a bust.

courtney.pomeroy@yahoo.com

RATING: 2.5 STARS OUT OF 5

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