F-0256

Title:

The Story of Us

Category:

S

Produced:

1999

Country:

USA

Released:

Film: Oct 1999 (USA)
DVD: Apr 2000
VHS: Aug 2000
Soundtrack: Nov 1999 (CD)

Director:

Rob Reiner

Writer:

Alan Zweibel; Jessie Nelson

Actors:

Bruce Willis (Ben Jordan); Michelle Pfeiffer (Katie Jordan); Colleen Rennison (Erin Jordan at Ten); Jake Sandvig (Josh Jordan at Twelve); Casey Boersma (Josh Jordan at Two and a Half); Tim Matheson (Marty); Rob Reiner (Stan); Julie Hagerty (Liza); Rita Wilson (Rachel); Dylan Boersma (Josh Jordan at Three); Ken Lerner (Dr. Rifkin); Victor Raider-Wexler (Dr. Hopkins); Albert Hague (Dr. Siegler); Jayne Meadows (Dot); Tom Poston (Harry)

Description:

Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfieffer play a married couple who go through hard times in fifteen years of marriage.

Two jilted lovers spend fifteen years of marriage together, only to find that they might no longer love each other. In this time they have two children and go through the various (dramatic and comical) events that take place in an average marriage. (Brian Levin)

Director Rob Reiner's When Harry Met Sally... was about a relationship beginning; The Story of Us is about a relationship possibly coming to an end. Bruce Willis plays a comedy writer who chafes at what he sees as his wife's lack of spontaneity; Michelle Pfeiffer, who creates crossword puzzles, stews over what she sees as her husband's irresponsibility. The arc of their separation is interspliced with glimpses and scenes from their marriage--a combination of high points (the proposal, the births of their two children), low points (screaming fights), and the in-between (sessions with marriage counselors, moments in bed staring at the TV). Reiner indicates the passage of time by Willis and Pfeiffer's various hairstyles, and they occasionally let their hair act for them, but at other points their performances are sincere and deeply felt. The sheer power of the themes--the inevitability of conflict in a relationship, the necessity and difficulty of growth--give the movie a degree of emotional force, and there's no doubt that everyone who's gone through a difficult period in their marriage (which is just about every married couple) will find something to connect with. However, there isn't a lot of chemistry between the two leads. In one sequence Willis and Pfeiffer go to Venice to rekindle their old spark and find themselves hounded by another couple, the Kirbys from Cleveland, who are loud, crass, boring, and oblivious. Nonetheless, the Kirbys have a buoyancy that the glossy and elegant stars never quite manage; if The Story of Us had been the story of them, it might have been a better story to watch. (Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com)

Rob Reiner, usually one of the most nimble and versatile of directors, loses his footing with this tale of declining love. The marriage of Ben and Katie Jordan (Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer) has been sliding steadily downward for fifteen years, although, for those of us in the audience, it feels like a whole lot longer. The movie begins with pained bickering and ends with an unconvincing reconciliation in a parking lot, during which the Jordans agree to forget their differences and go out for Chinese food. The bulk of the movie is more of the same mood swings, dotted with flashbacks to the early days, when love was fresh and Katie was blow-dried to resemble a Charlie's Angel. Reiner tries numerous devices to enliven the proceedings, including musical montages, dirty lunch talk between the Jordans and their friends (played by Julie Hagerty, Rita Wilson, Paul Reiser, and Reiner himself), and-always a sign of last resort-a picture-book trip to Venice. Willis and Pfeiffer, who should be flinty enough to strike sparks off each other, look glum and stony about the whole affair. All in all, a compelling argument for divorce. (Anthony Lane, Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker)

Language:

English, Italian

TT:

95 min (Film) / 96 min (DVD, VHS)

J.S. Bach's Music:

Bourrée (Mvt. 6) from Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C major, BWV 1066
Eugen Duvier / by Camerata Romana
Courtesy of Point Classics, by Arrangement with Source/Q

Format:

Film: Color (DeLuxe), DTS / Dolby Digital / SDDS
DVD: See below.
VHS: See below.
Soundtrack: CD

Company:

Film: Castle Rock Entertainment
DVD: Universal Studios
VHS: Universal Studios; Universal Home Video
Soundtrack: Warner Bros / Wea [CD]

Comments:

Watch selections:

Buy movie at:

DVD: Amazon.com [(Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, HiFi Sound, NTSC, Region 1)]
VHS: Amazon.com [Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC] | Amazon.com [Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC] | Amazon.com [Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC, Spanish Subtitles]
Soundtrack: Amazon.com [CD]

DVD> VHS>
CD>

Source/Links: IMDB
Contributor: Aryeh Oron (November 2007)