First we meet Frannie (Robin Penn Wright), sitting in her car chewing gum and slapping on a nicotine patch to try to stop smoking. Frannie's marriage isn't working. She and her unseen husband appear to maybe have fifteen years of marriage behind them (there don't seem to be kids), and they don't communicate well anymore. Her solution is to work long hours and extra shifts. You can see this one probably ending up in divorce court eventually, with a lot of wasted years to show for it. Then Frannie encounters Howard Davis (Kris Kristofferson), who is at the bedside of his dying wife of 45 years. Frannie is touched by his solicitousness and his sadness. Thinking of her own marriage, she tells him he is lucky. He looks at her and tells her "luck has nothing to do with it." He tells her of the ups and downs of a long term marriage, the times when each of them was ready to quit, yet didn't. For some reason they didn't. The somewhat cynical Frannie says "so there's no secret?" But there is a secret. The secret is endurance, in believing if you hang on, in some small fashion and in some way, to the feelings that got you together in the first place, it will come right. You must "stay in the room." Howard's grief at his wife's ultimate death may seem formulaic, but it has an impact on Frannie's view of her own marriage. What might it be like to have a relationship that could produce such open grief? Frannie decides to go home. Maybe she and her husband need to try to recapture something. Her husband seems ready to take that step, too. He has brought in the lunch she forgot, and left it in her locker with a note. When she walks out of the hospital, you don't know what will happen with them. We never do in real life. But she's smiling. And that's a hopeful sign.
Now I as a commenter must confess that as a partner in a marriage that has lasted (so far) for 59 years, this speaks truth to me. It isn't easy. We have fought, we have yelled, we have supported each other through crises, we have raised three children together who did manage to turn out well and to marry for the long haul themselves. We have had good times, and we have had hellacious times. Yet I still love him, and he still loves me, even after all these years and miles. (And by the way, the review that tosses off the phrase "the old woman" about the dying wife reveals with that one telling and derisive phrase a reviewer who could have used a few more miles into maturity before thinking they know much about both movies and marriage. Us "old 'uns" still have a fire in the furnace, even with the proverbial snow on the roof.) Now I'm not denying that some relationships cannot be saved. Some are genuinely toxic and abusive. Then you should run, not walk, to the nearest exit. One act of abuse is one too many. Get out. But for the run of the mill rubbing against another person's flaws (which you can probably match, flaw for flaw), hang in there. You can do it, and you'll be glad you did. Stay in the damn room.
Anniston and Buchanan have delivered a powerful message with a non-starry-eyed, realistic look at that most complex of human relationships -- marriage. And they chose well with their actors. Robin Wright Penn and Kris Kristofferson are both wonderful in this gem of a "short.".
Now I as a commenter must confess that as a partner in a marriage that has lasted (so far) for 59 years, this speaks truth to me. It isn't easy. We have fought, we have yelled, we have supported each other through crises, we have raised three children together who did manage to turn out well and to marry for the long haul themselves. We have had good times, and we have had hellacious times. Yet I still love him, and he still loves me, even after all these years and miles. (And by the way, the review that tosses off the phrase "the old woman" about the dying wife reveals with that one telling and derisive phrase a reviewer who could have used a few more miles into maturity before thinking they know much about both movies and marriage. Us "old 'uns" still have a fire in the furnace, even with the proverbial snow on the roof.) Now I'm not denying that some relationships cannot be saved. Some are genuinely toxic and abusive. Then you should run, not walk, to the nearest exit. One act of abuse is one too many. Get out. But for the run of the mill rubbing against another person's flaws (which you can probably match, flaw for flaw), hang in there. You can do it, and you'll be glad you did. Stay in the damn room.
Anniston and Buchanan have delivered a powerful message with a non-starry-eyed, realistic look at that most complex of human relationships -- marriage. And they chose well with their actors. Robin Wright Penn and Kris Kristofferson are both wonderful in this gem of a "short.".