Married Life is a 2007 American drama period film directed by Ira Sachs. The screenplay by Sachs and Oren Moverman is based on the 1953 novel Five Roundabouts to Heaven by John Bingham. Cast members include Patricia Clarkson, Chris Cooper, Rachel McAdams and Pierce Brosnan. The novel was also the basis for the December 20, 1962 episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour entitled The Tender Poisoner .

Plot

In 1949, successful middle-aged businessman Harry Allen (Chris Cooper) is having an affair with considerably younger war widow Kay Nesbitt (Rachel McAdams). Feeling rejuvenated by his emotional reawakening, he confides in his best friend Richard Langley (Pierce Brosnan) and encourages him to visit his mistress in order to alleviate her loneliness. Richard complies and immediately finds himself attracted to the young woman.

Richard discovers Harry s wife Pat (Patricia Clarkson), oblivious to her husband s ongoing tryst, is engaged in an affair of her own with John O Brien (David Wenham). Anxious to cement his blossoming relationship with Kay, Richard separately urges Harry and Pat to remain with each other.

Harry, however, is determined to marry Kay. Certain divorce would hurt and humiliate Pat too much, Harry decides to kill her by lacing her daily digestive aid with poison. He visits Kay, who unexpectedly ends their relationship. Harry departs, then returns to ask for all the correspondence he has sent her, only to discover Kay in the arms of Richard, who had secreted himself upstairs. Realization sets in, and Harry races home to stop his wife from taking her nightly dose of medication. When Harry returns home he finds his wife sleeping, thinking she consumed the poison Harry walks towards the bedroom window and opens it. He is startled by Pat waking up and saying, You re home early, is everything all right honey. Harry looks out the window in his backyard and sees John O Brien running away from the house while getting dressed, implying that at this moment Harry realizes Pat s infidelity. Harry never confronts her, maybe consumed by his own guilt.

Richard and Kay eventually wed and become part of the Allens’ social circle, which includes John O Brien and his wife. Harry and Pat continue to be on the periphery of their healing marriage.

Cast

• Pierce Brosnan as Richard Langley
• Chris Cooper as Harry Allen
• Patricia Clarkson as Pat Allen
• Rachel McAdams as Kay Nesbitt
• David Wenham as John O Brien

Production

Exterior scenes were shot in and around Vancouver, British Columbia. Interiors were filmed at the First Avenue Studio in Burnaby.

The film premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival. That same year it was shown at the Festival do Rio in Brazil, the New York Film Festival, the Woodstock Film Festival, the American Film Market, and the Dubai International Film Festival, and it was shown at the 2008 Miami International Film Festival before finally going into limited release in the US on March 7, 2008. The film opened on nine screens and grossed $55,851 on its opening weekend. It eventually earned $1,507,990 in the US and $1,336,007 in foreign markets for a worldwide box office total of $2,843,997.

Critical reception

The film received mixed to positive reviews. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 54% based on 118 reviews, and an average rating of 5.88/10. The website s critical consensus reads, Married Life has excellent performances and flashes of dark wit, but it suffers from tonal shifts and uneven pacing. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating generally positive reviews .

Stephen Holden of The New York Times called the film a period comedy of manners merged with a suspenseful psychological thriller aspires to be a hybrid of the sort that Alfred Hitchcock polished to perfection in the age of sexual subtext and subterfuge but added it does not provide the shivery security of being manipulated by Hitchcock, a master trickster who calculated his every move. The sense of being guided through a story by a sure-handed Hollywood magician toward a delightful trick ending is missing.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times rated it three out of four stars and said it crosses film noir with the look and feel of a Douglas Sirk film.

Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle observed the film has the virtues of suspense, good performances and well-written scenes that are given time to breathe. That s what s entertaining about it. What s most interesting about it – its overall feeling – is harder to describe. Partly as a result of the period setting but mainly because of the movie s entire atmosphere… there s a quality of distance to the picture, as though we re seeing a case study. Or watching ourselves watch the movie. It s strange. It s different. It s arresting, and it s definitely intentional. Ira Sachs knew what he wanted to do, and he s a talent worth watching.

Todd McCarthy of Variety commented, The tone, casting and material form a less-than-perfect match in Married Life, a period domestic drama that never quite decides if it wants to be a credible marital study, a noirish meller or a sly comedy. The talented quartet of lead players feel oddly paired in this curious tale of jealousy, betrayal and murderous intent. Helmer Ira Sachs… appears to be working a bit out of his zone here… is dramatic but lacks a dynamic; one can sense the director s intent and affection for the form, but also see that working in this stylized vein does not necessarily come easily for a filmmaker of his hitherto more naturalistic tendencies.

DVD release

The DVD release of the film includes three alternative endings, all of which advance the action to late 1966. Harry and Pat are returning home from their grandson s wedding when he is distracted by a billboard advertising the digestive aid he had laced with poison in order to murder his wife. In the first and longest of the three, he crashes the car and Pat is killed. Richard visits Harry in the hospital, and Harry asks him to bring him the same poison so he can kill himself. Richard complies, then is arrested and tried for Harry s murder. The audience is left not knowing the outcome. The second alternate ending matches the first up to the point of Harry consuming the poison, then fades to black. In the third, Harry pointedly sees the billboard, smiles wryly, and continues without crashing.

Year	2007
ReleaseDate	2008-03-28
RuntimeMins	91
RuntimeStr	1h 31min
Plot	A 1940s-set drama where an adulterous man plots his wife’s death instead of putting her through the humiliation of a divorce.
Awards	Awards, 2 nominations
Directors	Ira Sachs
Writers	Ira Sachs, Oren Moverman, John Bingham
Stars	Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson, Rachel McAdams
Produced by	Steve Golin,William Horberg,Sidney Kimmel,Matt Littin,Alix Madigan,Jawal Nga,David Nicksay,Ira Sachs,Adam Shulman,Geoff Stier,Bruce Toll
Music by	Dickon Hinchliffe
Cinematography by	Peter Deming
Film Editing by	Affonso Gonçalves
Casting By	Avy Kaufman
Production Design by	Hugo Luczyc-Wyhowski
Art Direction by	Gwendolyn Margetson
Set Decoration by	Carol Lavallee
Costume Design by	Michael Dennison
Makeup Department	Stacey Butterworth,Martial Corneville,Jayne Dancose,Linda Grimes,Megan Harkness,Monica Huppert,Kayleen McAdams,Robert A. Pandini,Francesca Paris,Dean Scheck,Victoria Wood,Cara Doell
Production Management	Simon Abbott,Sarah Connors,David Nicksay
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Josy Capkun,Alleris Gillham,Sara Irvine-Erickson,Carl Mason,Tanya Tagman
Art Department	Rob Allen,John T. Boe,Cameron Boon,Jaron Boon,Allan Burdett,William Glenn Burdett,Lee Campbell,John Chaschowy,Shelley Collins,Alexandra Cram,Brian Cunningham,Hoge Day,Rowland Dyton,Richard Elder,Dave Emmonds,Sharon Falck,Kevin Griffin-Park,Haida Harper,Denise Hignell,Louis Holz,Bryan Korenberg,Carmen Lee,Rohan Lyal,Marko Lytviak,Natasha Muir,Shane O’Reilly,David Parke,Michelle Pitney,Robert Pratt,Slava Shmakin,John Sinclair,Robert Swan,Jan Thorp,Rena Van Steele,Margot Ready
Sound Department	David Boulton,Lindsay Bucknell,Rachel Chancey,Ryan Collison,Keith Culbertson,David Ellinwood,Robert Fernandez,Brian Gallagher,Jim Gardner,Ken Hunold,Pat Lauwers,Jason Lecky,Katherine Gordon Miller,Cate Montana,Glenfield Payne,Jay Peck,Damian Volpe,Matthew Haasch,Albert Thrower
Special Effects by	Don Besse,Kurt Jackson,Robert Paller
Visual Effects by	John Cairns,Monika Chvatikova,Ashley Clark,Eric Jordan,Myung Kim,Colin Liggett,Margaux Mackay,Gray Marshall,Robert Scifo,Trent Shumway,Patrick Clancey,D.R. Farquharson,Steven Hodgson,Danita Slaughter
Stunts	Scott J. Ateah,Caroline Field,David Jacox,Ken Kirzinger,Gerald Paetz,Paul Rutledge,Melissa R. Stubbs,Brent Woolsey
Camera and Electrical Department	Jay Anderson,Mark Aviss,Roger Bailey,Scott Bonner,Brian Bouma,Rob Brady,Trevor Carabin,Drew Davidson,Glen A. Dickson,Shane Dobie,Nazim Edeer,Andre Gheorghiu,Reg Gole,Leigh Jenkins,Robin Jobin,Cary Lalonde,Joseph Lederer,Brian Lymer,Todd Martin,Cam North,Doug Parton,Andrew Pedley,Laird Pierce,Robin Say,Steve Smith,Jonathan Turton,Pat Waller,Gary J. Williams,James Williams,Owen Williams,Andrew D. Wilson,Keith Woods,Rod Haney
Animation Department	Alex Hanson,Chris Sanchez,Tony Weinstock
Casting Department	Cody Beke,Heike Brandstatter,Andrea Brown,Elizabeth Greenberg,Sondra James,Coreen Mayrs,Leah Nelson,Trica Thompson,Tiffany Mak
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Patti Bishop,Luisa Dalmagro,Kevin Harrison,Michelle Hunter,Nancy Jones,Gillian Kieft,Diane Nosella,Jonny Pray,Angela Bright,Nancy Jones
Editorial Department	Cheryl Buckman,Gary Burritt,Ron Dulin,Alex Gabucci,Jessica Green,Jim O’Hagan,Chris Regan,Ed Dobbs
Location Management	Fareed Abdelhak,Renee Bella,Vincent Dela Luna,Jeff Mohs,Geoff Teoli
Music Department	Evan Barker,John Carbonara,Gary Chester,Christy Gerhart,Bonnie Greenberg,Susan Jacobs,Suzana Peric,Christine Bergren
Script and Continuity Department	Christine Wilson
Transportation Department	Richard Atchison,Chris Baldwinson,Colin Banner,Don Bell,Jared Boileau,Dave Byerley,Wayne Cartwright,Donald Chase,Ed Cherier,Preston Davis,Bob Dennett,Ron Fessler,Bill Fox,Tom Groulx,Harry Hachey,John Hardyono,Dan Ross Haveruk,Mark Johnston,Dave Kennedy,Jason Lapp,Don Larone,Doug March,Richard McKay,Rick McLennan,Lori Merchant-O’Dwyer,Michael J. Murphy,Shawn O’Hearn,Charles Pinkus,Ed Scott,Ken Sissons,Trent Thomas,Bob Thorner,Allan Voth,Geoff Williams
Additional Crew	Ilya V. Abulkhanov,Cassandra Barbour,Ari Ben Ron,Petina Louise Bradley,Suzie Bruce,Mandy Butler,Unjoo Lee Byars,Dan Cohen,Nicola Conlon,Kyle Cooper,Peter Cummings,Dennis Davidson,Hanelize de Beer,Blake Deross,Ian Doig,Katie Forss,Carl Gruell,Catherine Howard,Kim Howes,Lieve Jansen,Lucas Joaquin,Kohl Jones,Jeffrey Kurtis,Viktoria Langton,Mark R. Lindsay,Michael J. Linowes,Grace MacLeod,Jennifer Malloy,Sean Meade,Peter Mulholland,Ian Neeson,Kathryn Perkins,Kristy Rempel,Michael Riley,Robyn Ross,Laura Sevier,Linda Sheehy-Brownstein,Alex Skrepnik,Kimberley Sutton,Geoff Titcomb,Nina Van Den Boogaard,Daniel Villagomez,Dal Watson,Danny Yount,Luisa Dalmagro,Kate Dalton,Michael J. Harker,Frederick Heartline,Richie Kawamoto,Braydon Regimbald,David Scott Thomson,Bill Timoney
Thanks	Miguel Arteta,Paul Brennan
Genres	Biography, Crime, Drama
Companies	Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, Anonymous Content, Firm Films
Countries	USA, Canada
Languages	English
ContentRating	PG-13
ImDbRating	6.2
ImDbRatingVotes	9437
MetacriticRating	65
Keywords	in flagrante delicto,blonde woman,adultery,unfaithfulness,infidelity