I think Married Life’s biggest problem is that it wants to be two different kinds of movies in one and the combination, which can be successful in the right hands, just doesn’t work. It starts of as a dry humoured, dark comedy of sorts with quick-witted dialogue and a general sense of not taking itself too seriously. But as the film progresses it morphs into a very serious drama, at least for much of the latter half anyway; this totally goes against what the earlier part of the film was aiming to be. I definitely felt that it worked better as the more comedic film rather than the more serious one.
The film’s other major problem comes in the form of its plot points and the overall storyline – it all seems a bit unnecessarily far-fetched and not quite believable. Perhaps I could have run with this mentality if it had stayed on the more comedic side of things but since it turns the serious meter way up by the second half, the overall storyline just doesn’t seem believable. And as a result, although admirable, its messages about marriage, love, and life don’t really ring true.
I don’t know whether or not it’s the accurate capturing of the time period but the film has a certain air of sophistication and class about it. It may also be down to the ideals of the time period, the cast involved, and the cinematography – all of these elements are positive aspects to an otherwise above average flick.
There are certain films that you can just tell are based on novels. I don’t know whether it’s the story or how it’s told but there’s just something about them, and Married Life is an example, that you can just tell it was a book before it was a film. Married Life isn’t exactly required viewing but it’s enjoyable enough and it has some fine actors so I say catch it on DVD if you have a couple of hours to spare.
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