“Love is Strange” isn’t very strange. It is a fairly conventional drama, in fact. The film is from director Ira Sachs and tells the tale of a newlywed gay couple, Ben (John Lithgow) and George (Alfred Molina). Soon after their marriage at the beginning of the film, George is fired from his job forcing the couple to sell their apartment. While they look for a new, more affordable place to live they have to move into separate living environments. This new situation has repercussions for all involved, mostly negative.
Whether a film is conventional or not is irrelevant. What matters is the general impression left upon the viewer by the film as a whole. In that regard, this film is successful in making you feel good. There are moments of beauty and truth. It doesn’t come across as phony or trite but succeeds as a bittersweet glimpse into the lives of people in modern Western society. It reflects the struggles we are experiencing today with relationships, finances, mortality and spirituality.
There is one powerful sequence in which George, a music teacher, listens to his young student play a piece of music on the piano. He is dissatisfied with her performance and asks her to replay to piece with more feeling and to make use of the instrument in a more harmonious way. The music is accompanied by a series of shots reflecting the mood of the piece in a lyrical way. It is sequences like this that propel the film into another place and add something to its overall quality, making it a little more special and meaningful to the viewer.
There is nothing earth-shattering about “Love is Strange.” It is fairly conventional and won’t be remembered as one of the seminal films of 2014. But, it is well-told, with interesting characters, and moments that may surprise you.
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