| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | THE STORY OF US (1999) |
| Director | Rob Reiner |
| Writer | Alan Zweibel, Jessie Nelson |
| Lead Actor | Bruce Willis |
| Cast | Bruce Willis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Colleen Rennison |
| Genre | Comedy, Drama, Romance |
| Release Date | October 15, 1999 (United States) |
| Duration | 1h 35m(95 min) |
| Budget | $50 million |
| Language | English |
| IMDB Rating | 6.0/10 |
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THE STORY OF US is amiable and ultimately positive. An affluent, secular California couple (Bruce Willis, Michelle Pfeiffer) are on the cusp of divorce, after 15 years of marriage. They’ve become increasingly aware of the other’s faults (dreamer vs. control freak). The crisis mounts while their two kids are at summer camp.
Neither the creators nor the characters have a credible concept of what love is the relationship is more pathetic than they know. But Willis and Pfeiffer are sympathetic and fun, even in their worst moments. Their main problem, besides short fuses and using the familiar ugly word to describe the act of love, is having a lot of presumably hip friends who blab about sex endlessly without a clue.
Director Rob Reiner seems to be reaching for the magic of his When Harry Met Sally (1989), about a friendship that turned into love over many years. But Us is not as clever. It also lacks both the joy and anguish of Two for the Road (1967), which still sets the standard for mature (if secular) comedies about marriages that hold up over time.
Many of the events inevitable in bickering-spouse films are inventively staged the proud awkwardness of first attempts at reconciliation, the weird lineup of shrinks and counselors they consult, the horrors of a guilt-ridden parents’ weekend at camp. Pfeiffer is also terrific in a very funny-sad speech. Some pleasurable adult mainstream moments, but no epiphanies.
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