The Worst Film Ever

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

On rewatching writer-director Ira Sachs' touching, perfectly-formed, 2014 low-key drama, it struck me that one of the most thought-provoking things about the film is the multi-dimensional potential of its title. Not only does Sachs' choice to portray the deep affection felt between two ageing homosexuals set his drama apart (even now) from the mainstream of Hollywood films, but a relationship longevity of 39 years is an equally rare thing it seems these days. Most pivotally for Sachs' narrative, though, is the fact that the choice made by Alfred Molina's Catholic school music teacher, George, and John Lithgow's artist, Ben, to seal the marital knot on their obviously loving relationship provokes the powers that be to sack George from his job, thereby forcing the couple to sell their New York apartment and to take up offers of (hopefully temporary) accommodation with family and neighbours, in the process necessitating the pair's physical separation. What follows is a perfectly judged, naturalistic drama, full of moments of poignancy and wry humour, perceptively co-written by Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias, and touching on themes of family dysfunction, intergenerational difference, guilt and regret, in which we really feel for George and Ben as seemingly helpless victims of unfair circumstance. Sachs' observational touch is particularly adept around the intergenerational angle, for which, amongst an all-round superlative cast, Marisa Tomei's niece to Ben, Kate, and her son, Charlie Tahan's Joey are outstanding. The film's subtle, poetic qualities are also enhanced by the choice of some sublime Chopin piano music, whilst Christos Voudouris' cinematography, though generally unfussy, also gives us some memorable sunsets of the New York skyline. The film's narrative arc and its take on the bittersweet nature of fate and fortune also culminates in one of the most strikingly uplifting closing sequences that I can recall anywhere, providing us with a final dimension and take on Sachs' film title.

Yes, there are a few plot mistakes - such as the group intervention/"We need a place to crash" meeting - something a group email could have easily handled. But, what a lovely story of two mature gay men who have become so deeply connected over the tenure of their life together. The film includes family issues, teen struggles, gay rights issues, religious bureaucracy, art and music, socio-economic realities, and more. I cried many times and longed to grow old with my partner as these two characters have. It is rare that I get to see a love story about two older men - usually gay love stories involve young men falling in love, or maybe there is an older gay couple playing a supporting role in the far background of a mainstream film. To see Lithgow and Molina embrace so naturally and shares kisses of true companionship (and not of Hollywood lust) warms my heart and validates those of us who share a similar path. Thanks Ira Sachs!

The tone of Ira Sachs's movie remains resolutely liberal, as it calls for a "live and let live" attitude in a society which, despite its apparent freedom, nonetheless discriminates against certain people.Long-time partners Ben Hull (John Lithgow), and George Garea (Alfred Molina) decide to marry after thirty-nine years of living together. The ceremony is a happy one, but immediately leads to trouble as George is dismissed from his post at a local Catholic school as a music teacher. Lacking sufficient funds to pay New York's ruinous taxes, the couple are forced out of their apartment after twenty years, and forced to live a nomadic existence. Ben moves in with his nephew Eliot (Darren Burrows) and family, while George shacks up with friendly next-door neighbor Ted (Cheyenne Jackson). The remainder of the film portrays the couple's struggle to survive under difficult, if not impossible circumstances.Stylistically speaking, LOVE IS STRANGE is an elegiac movie, full of long takes focusing on the protagonists' expressions as they realize the shortcomings of their new lives. The soundtrack with its plangent rendering of Chopin's piano music, reinforces the mood: in one sequence we see George giving a private lesson to one of his music students, and trying desperately to keep the tears back as he listens to her playing one of the Preludes. Sachs's camera remains focused on his face, with occasional cuts to the young girl playing, and through this strategy we understand just how affecting music can actually be.On the other hand Sachs celebrates the elderly couple's strength as they manage to overcome adversity and enjoy the pleasures of the moment, such as listening to a classical recital. The camera zooms in on them listening, and their hands slowly meet in a mutual celebration of physical as well as emotional pleasure. Another sequence, taking place in a diner at nighttime, shows the couple bidding farewell to one another; the camera shows them walking down the street together during a glorious sunset, their hands linked together; and subsequently cuts to an understated scene where they embrace. This is the last time we see Ben alive - from then on George has to live the life of a singleton in a newly-rented apartment.Molina and Lithgow give memorable performances - each gesture, or movement of the eyes signaling their longing for one another. The other real star of this film is Christos Voudouris's camera, which photographs some wonderful New York landscapes in late summer and autumn; the skyscrapers towering into cloudless skies; the tree- lined streets offering oases of calm from the bustle of the main avenues; and the tracking shots of iconic sites such as the Metropolitan Museum. From such moments we can understand precisely why George and Ben do not want to leave the center of the city, even though they have been offered temporary - and comfortable - accommodation in Poughkeepsie, two and a half hours' bus-ride away.LOVE IS STRANGE might be at heart a sentimental movie, but remains memorable nonetheless - not only for the quality of the performances, but also for Sachs's cleverly understated direction.

This Ira Sachs' follow-up of his strained relationship chronicle KEEP THE LIGHTS ON (2012) revolves around a senior gay couple in Manhattan, New York, Ben (Lithgow), an obscure painter and George (Molina), a music teacher in a Catholic school, after gay-marriage has been legalised, they finally tie the knot after 39 years together, their love has been blessed by friends and family, but the segueing repercussions cost George his post due to the obvious prejudice among those religious conservatives, and the unforeseen financial plight forces them to sell the apartment and live with their relatives and friends, yet as none of them have extra rooms for both, so they have to spend the transitional time separately.The story unwinds with both encounter difficulties in their provisional homes, Ben is living with his nephew Elliot (Burrows), a photographer, his writer wife Kate (Tomei) and their teenage son Joey (Tahan), his inconvenient intrusion already ruffles Joey's feathers as they have to share a same room with a double bunk, moreover, the co-existence slowly but surely also tests the limitation of Kate's patience. In another side, George becomes a couch-surfer in their friends Ted (Jackson) and Roberto (Perez)'s apartment, however, the unashamed cliché is they are frequent home-party throwers, even when they have a friend sleeping on their couch. Their situations are not too rosy, but admirably Sachs doesn't plunge the usual melodrama between them, after being each other's soul-mate and life-partners for such a long time, they reach the mutual coordination of understanding, respect and support, the story itself transcends the gay setting and sublimates into a hymn to universal love which only those very few can actually acquire in reality. Thanks to Lithgow and Molina's unforced but extremely moving performances, which potently fuels the final revelation with utter poignancy, and pretty unusually, in an extraordinary way. Rather than a tearjerker, the film more inclines to be a worshipper of love and respect even when in the time of loss, through a subplot of Joey's own wayward pubertal rebellion, we have the chance to glance at the real problem inside straight people's gay-friendly facade, the fight for equality and against discrimination is a protracted battle and there is no time for slackening. I should also name-check Tomei for her brilliant turn as Kate, gallantly runs the full gamut from the one who gifts them an affecting ode about how Ben and George are exemplars of love for her and Elliot, to her final scene of a hysterical flare-up to vent her frustration and dissatisfaction, she is truly amazing.Under the pervasion of classical music pieces, LOVE IS STRANGE is alternately heart- warming, heart-touching and heart-rending, Ira Sachs perfects his narrative strategy with more self-control and less on-the-nose intensity, and it turns out to be an unheralded gem not just from the viewpoint of LGBT genre, but a brutally honest take on senility and appeals for an authentic mutual esteem among each and every soul on the earth.