In the films and television shows he created as a writer-director, Edward Burns never made things personal, but to maintain the same level of creative control as his breakthrough “The Brothers McMullen,” he often had to work with modest budgets and with younger casts and crews, which obviously moves the work itself further away from who it is today. In a market bereft of thoughtful adult dramas, his return to center stage in “Millers in Marriage” is a welcome event, as Burns mines territory he’s familiar with after turning 50.
“All I’m looking for is a stable relationship with a woman my own age,” Burns’ character Andy is heard telling his new girlfriend Renee (Minnie Driver), making her feel at ease as she worries that he might want children. They’re at a summer house where Renee is divorced, and by “Millers in Marriage” standards he couldn’t have said anything more romantic to her, when all people want is comfort.
Andy wasn’t the one who recently ended his own 15-year marriage, but he can certainly be grateful that it happened when leaving the tempestuous Tina (Morena Baccarin) meant less stress in his life. And when he needs a reminder, all he has to do is call his younger sister Eve (Gretchen Mol), whose husband Scott (Patrick Wilson) can go for days without calling her as a music player along the way. manager.
His other sister Maggie (Julianna Margulies) is also unhappy in her marriage, with her husband Nick (Campbell Scott) in the doldrums since their children moved away for college, but she is less likely to express it unless she can express in fictionality. her work as an author. It turns out that all the Millers have artistic pursuits – or at least they did. Eve fronted a band until she and Scott became pregnant, and while it’s not central to the story, Burns is able to offer wry observations about the twists and turns of a career in an area he knows well. He also shows self-awareness when Nick reads a manuscript of his wife’s latest novel and concludes, “They’re rich people with champagne problems,” a not-so-veiled reference to the fact that no one comes around in “Millers in Marriage.” .
But Burns goes beyond that with genuine introspection of what people must give up to balance their personal and professional ambitions and enable a long-term partnership. The film also introduces a potential secret for the filmmaker in the form of Johnny (Benjamin Bratt), a rock journalist who harasses Eve about a book he is working on and tells her that he is considering leaving New York while feeling invisible in the city of a young person. As Eve is quick to point out, he may be seeking attention from the wrong people.
‘Millers in Marriage’ is notable for how relaxed it feels, despite all the characters acting so tensely towards each other. A cast that can look so comfortable in their own skin brings real appeal to characters settled in lives they’re reluctant to jeopardize by change, and Burns, with editor Janet Gaynor, finds an elegant, unhurried structure for the film with subtle flashbacks. embedded in the course of conversations that reveal what happened and what someone would like to share or remember about their experience. What is held back is what drives the drama as the three main couples come to a reckoning, but when honesty is the main currency, the romance takes shape in every open dialogue the characters can have with each other, which is even more enticing to an audience when Burns has not lost his keen ear for lived-in banter.
The film delves into the melodramatic as the end draws closer and choices have to be made, but when the players in a film turn out to be the leads, they also turn out to be movie stars, making relatively mundane misery worth watching. While the problems may be as old as time, there is comfort in discovering that some things really do get better with age.
