Hey Folks, Harry here. Well here we have Madam Z with a view on THE STORY OF US, Rob Reiner's latest film, that runs in the exact opposite direction of Moriarty's view of the film. Now, at one level you have to wonder exactly how reliabe the opinion of an EVIL genius can be when it comes to a love (or anti-love) story. But then you must remember... Something turned him evil. Well, one is an evil genius and the other a mysterious lady of the night. Whom do you trust to gauge THE STORY OF US? Well... all I know is come October 15th, I'm watching FIGHT CLUB... THE STORY OF US while on my list... will have to wait.
I imagine that by titling his film "The Story of Us", director Rob Reiner and writers Alan Zweibel and Jessie Nelson mean to imply that they have given us a moving, heartrending meditation on the pain that we all experience in trying to sustain love over the years. I admire this intention, because marriage is seldom examined in film except as the happily-ever-after ending or as the basic structure in a family story. This is unfortunate, as marriage holds a deep-seated, mythical power over the human psyche. It's a symbolic reflection of our relationship with God as well as the most intimate relationship with another human being most of us will ever experience. I would like to see a film that illuminates the difficulties of long-term relationships, perhaps especially one starring one actor who has just gone through a heartbreaking divorce and another who is still struggling, with apparent success, to maintain a happy marriage--not out of prurient interest, but because it's always beautiful when actors can offer up their personal experiences in order to help others see their own lives. Unfortunately, this is not that film.
"The Story of Us" comes across as a self-absorbed, ego-inflated, voyeuristic examination of a couple who have no chemistry, love or tension between them. When the film begins, Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer are an upper middle-class L.A. couple who have already decided that their marriage is over. They inexplicably hate each other after years together and two "beautiful" children. Apparently, he "colors outside the lines" and she's too critical; therefore, the relationship is obviously doomed. The picture is told in flashback sequences, including one unbearable montage with the obligatory "family-gleefully-dancing-like-the-Temptations" shot, none of which give any glimpse into why the couple loved each other in the first place or why they hate each other now. Willis and Pfeiffer fail to provide any of the necessary sparks to make us care whether they stay together or not. In fact, I half suspect they were never in the same room together during filming and were simply spliced together during editing.
Everything about this movie, from Pfeiffer's freakish beauty to the view from Paul Reiser (playing a Hollywood agent)'s office to the haven't I seen this a milliion times before? gender-divided restaurant table scenes--where the men talk about masturbating and the women talk about the glory of the vagina--looks, sounds and feels completely phony, made-up and predictable. The jokes are tired and feel tacked-on (example: Willis' best friend, played by Reiner, tries to encourage him to stay in the marriage by explaining how the ass is an illusion--it's really just the top of the legs. Funny, huh?), the two main characters have no personalities and are basically interchangeable, and any conventions and themes the movie sets up in the beginning are never completed. For instance, the marriage was apparently perfect until the children were born, yet they constantly weep and moan about how much they're going to miss the kids when they break up. In another inconsistency, the couple goes to great lengths to hide the fact that they are having trouble from the children by pretending to go out to celebrate their anniversary, waiting until the kids are away at summer camp to seperate, etc. However, in a flashback we see them screaming the f-word at one another repeatedly, while the daughter calls from a nearby room for mom to bring her a glass of water. Also, since the film shows us a marriage already supposedly over and never once shows the couple making any attempt to work things out, the contract with the audience is unforgivably betrayed when a happy ending rears its ugly head out of nowhere except the top of Rob Reiner's legs.
Although the version I saw was a rough cut, I can't imagine it being improved by editing. The story was too confusing. (Did you get that? The story which involved NOTHING EXCEPT WHETHER OR NOT A COUPLE WAS GOING TO BREAK UP WAS TOO CONFUSING!) The characters were dull, the jokes were not funny and the stars' presence detracted rather than added to the picture. The only thing I can imagine being improved is the soundtrack, which at this point consists of one annoying song by Eric Clapton played over and over and over. Do yourself a favor: if you've ever had marriage troubles and would like to experience the catharsis of seeing the story of you up on the screen, don't see this picture. Unless you happen to be phony, fake and given to making arbitrary decisions that have no basis in your real life whatsoever.
--madam z
