Married Life

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Doris Day's cheery rendition of "I Can't Give You Anything but Love" which accompanies the lighthearted animated credits would seem to promise a breezy romantic comedy, but "Married Life" (Sony Classics) proves anything but.

It's a handsome but sluggish period melodrama -- based on English writer John Bingham's 1950s' crime novel, "Five Roundabouts to Heaven." (Interestingly, Bingham was John le Carre's MI5 boss, and the inspiration for le Carre's George Smiley character.)

Transposed to an American 1940s' setting, mild-mannered businessman Harry (Chris Cooper) decides to poison his wife, Pat (Patricia Clarkson), believing (wrongly, as it happens) she'll be bereft without him when he ultimately leaves her for his mistress, Kay (Rachel McAdams), a pretty young widow. Little does he know the latter is being romantically pursued by his duplicitous best friend, Richard (Pierce Brosnan).

Co-writer and director Ira Sachs seems to want to explore the challenges and compromises of long-term relationships, and the script (with Oren Moverman) has a sardonically humorous tone.

But the stilted, cliched dialogue ("this is as hard for me as it is for you"), lumbering pace and stylized old-movie artifice undercut an ostensibly suspenseful plot, solid performances and handsome production design.

There's one brief scene of a couple making love, and elsewhere a scene where Harry and Kay ponder the existence of God, but otherwise the plot's potentially seamy elements are tastefully handled.

If only the end product were more compelling.

The film contains adultery, murder theme, nonmarital sexual relationships, one nongraphic sexual encounter, some sexual talk and partial male nudity. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

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Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops