Hope Springs

Hope Springs

Tommy Lee Jones delivers subtle, groundbreaking performance

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Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on July 2013

There’s something wrong with Kay and Arnold’s seemingly stable, 31-year marriage (no intimacy), so Kay signs them up for a week with a celebrity psychologist (Steve Carell, playing it straight). This is a brave examination of identifiable problems that beset real people of a certain age. They could be your parents or your grandparents. Or you. Some gags, but don’t mistake this sweet, quietly subversive film for a romantic comedy. Meryl Streep again aces her character, but the standout here is Tommy Lee Jones with a subtle, groundbreaking performance the like of which we’ve never seen before.