Hope Springs Information

Hope Springs is a 2012 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by David Frankel, written by Vanessa Taylor, and starring Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones and Steve Carell. The film was released on August 8, 2012. It received generally positive reviews and the cast was praised for their performances. It was nominated for a Golden Globe, and won a People's Choice Award.

Plot

Although a devoted couple, empty nesters Kay and Arnold Soames (Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones) are in need of (in Kay's opinion) help to ignite the spark back into their marriage. For years they have slept in separate rooms, forgoing any physical affection. One day Kay (who works as a Coldwater Creek employee) tells Arnold (a partner in an Omaha accounting firm) she has paid for them to undergo a week of intense marriage counseling with Dr. Bernie Feld (Steve Carell) in a coastal resort town in Maine. Arnold, a creature of plodding, unimaginative routine, denies their marriage is in trouble and resists getting on a plane for a week of marriage therapy.

The real challenge comes in sessions with Dr. Feld as they both try to articulate their feelings, revitalize their relationship, and find the spark that caused them to fall in love in the first place. In daily sessions in his office, Dr. Feld counsels them together, each time asking increasingly frank questions about their sex life and feelings toward one another. Arnold is angry and defensive, rigidly resistant to change, and unwilling to see the depth of his wife's disappointment. Discouraged by Arnold's recalcitrance, angry and crying, Kay goes alone to a bar where she vents to the bartendress and learns nobody else is having any sex. Arnold visits a nautical museum.

Back together, they spend the night in the same bed for the first time in years, and Kay awakes in the morning to find Arnold's arm around her. At this sign of progress, Dr. Feld urges new measures. They make halting attempts at intimacy on the bed of their budget motel and again in a movie theater, but this time with disastrous results. Arnold finally takes the initiative to arrange a romantic dinner and a night at a luxury inn, where they attempt to make love in front of a fireplace, but the grand design fails. At their final session, Dr. Feld tells them they've made much progress and should take up couples therapy back home.

Back in Omaha, old habits resume. Kay offers to pet sit for a fellow employee and packs a bag to stay there, as a first step in a permanent break with Arnold. With Kay already in her bedroom, Arnold ascends the stairs to bed and pauses at her door, but does not knock. Both are shown in bed trying to sleep. It is Arnold who arises, puts on his bathrobe, and enters his wife's bedroom. Kay sits up as he sits down beside her and they tenderly embrace. The lovemaking that follows is warm, natural, and quietly passionate. The next morning it's clear that the marriage is in a whole new place after all. Later that year, as Kay said she fantasized, they renew their wedding vows on a beach with Dr. Feld present, making promises to be more understanding and considerate of each other.

Cast

• Meryl Streep as Kay Soames
• Tommy Lee Jones as Arnold Soames
• Steve Carell as Dr. Bernie Feld
• Elisabeth Shue as Karen
• Jean Smart as Eileen
• Ben Rappaport as Brad
• Marin Ireland as Molly
• Mimi Rogers as Carol
• Becky Ann Baker as Cora

Trivia

After the second "break a nose" quote of Steve Carell in his office, Tommy L. Jones and Meryl Streep both go in a theater. The French movie they watch in foreign language with subtitles is the very famous comedy "Le Diner de Cons", realized by Francis Veber, at the very famous - and central - scene when Jacques Villeret explains seriously that he built the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe using thousands of glued matches while having free time. Interestingly, Steve Carell played the role of Jacques Villeret in the American adaptation "Dinner for Schmucks", realized by Jay Roach. Tommy L. Jones says himself in the movie that "the [French] movie is [very] good".

Production

The project was first announced in 2010 with Streep and Jeff Bridges in talks for the leads and Mike Nichols attached as director. Bridges soon dropped out, and James Gandolfini and Philip Seymour Hoffman were soon attached to the project.

The project then replaced Nichols with David Frankel, without the involvement of Ganfoldini and Hoffman. Steve Carell joined the cast in February 2011, with Tommy Lee Jones replacing Bridges in the opposite lead.

Filming took place in September and October 2011 in Connecticut.

Reception

Reviews for the film are mostly positive. Rotten Tomatoes currently states that 74% of film critics gave the film a positive review, with the consensus being "Led by a pair of mesmerizing performances from Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones, Hope Springs offers filmgoers some grown-up laughs -- and a thoughtful look at mature relationships." Many critics praised Tommy Lee Jones' and Meryl Streep's performances, the chemistry between the two actors, and the believability of Steve Carell's performance as a therapist.

Meryl Streep was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and, for a People's Choice Award for Favorite Dramatic Actress. She also won the latter award for Favorite Movie Icon.

Home media

Hope Springs was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on December 5, 2012.