Kay (Meryl Streep; The Iron Lady) and Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones; MIB3) have been married for 31 years and their marriage seems to have stagnated. Kay wants more affection from Arnold, who seems incapable. Arnold wants his breakfast in the morning, to read his newspaper, to go to work, then to come home and have dinner before falling asleep in his lounge chair while watching golf. Day in, day out this has been their routine. It also doesn’t help that the two have been sleeping in separate bedrooms for the last five years. For Arnold ,life is like clockwork, but for Kay their marriage has become a miserable existence.

In somewhat of a last ditch effort Kay spends four thousand dollars on an intensive couples therapy session with a Dr. Feld (Steve Carell; Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World) in Maine. Feld has had a high success rate with his clients, some who come back year after year for a tune up. Arnold, upset that his wife has gone behind his back and spent this money, refuses to go. After a water cooler session with a divorced colleague at work though, Arnold caves in, albeit kicking and screaming the entire time. Will Dr. Feld mend the broken bond between to people who have lost their way or will the trip to Maine mark the end of their marriage?

Hope Springs was an extremely hard movie for me to get through. It was without a doubt geared more towards older folks, but at the same time it was still accessible to someone like me who has been in a 20+ year relationship that has included every up and down imaginable. If you do not fit these two demographics, well, good luck with what’s about to unfold before you.

Vanessa Taylor does a decent job here with the train wreck that is Kay and Arnold’s marriage, but I still couldn’t help but feel like some area’s of their troubles were being ignored or patched up with conveniences. Then again there’s always the excuse that love is like that. Even between two people who have been together forever, some dynamics remain a mystery and you’re just glad that things turn out for the better with minimal effort, or what appears to be minimal effort when love and marriage tends to seem spiraling before it’s righted by desperate measures that come as instinct. In any case I think everyone will see this film differently depending on where they come from. Still, I think I could have gone my entire life without some of the more dry awkward moments this film had to offer.

PICTURE QUALITY:
Perfect. Plain and simple. Hands down the most flawless picture making this the definitive quality version of this film.

BONUS FEATURES:
~Commentary with director David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada)
~Gag Reel
~Exploring The Scene- Alternate Takes
~An Intimate Look At Making Hope Springs
~An Experts Guide To Everlasting Passion
~The Doctor Is In: Steve Carell on Dr. Feld
~Inside The Perfect Movie Marriage: Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones
~The Passionate Performer
~Previews
~UV/BD versions