Arts & Events

Ben (John Lithgow) is a striving artist whose oil paintings have not yet made a dent on the walls of Manhattan's art galleries. George (Alfred Molina) is the breadwinner, teaching music at a New York school. They've lived together in a comfy New York apartment for 39 years and now, with social mores starting to drift away from their conservative moorings, Ben and George decide to celebrate the state's new gay marriage laws by inviting friends and family to a touching outdoor wedding. This affirmation becomes their undoing. 

Set in New York -- and populated by a talented cast portraying a play-list of colorful characters who chat, clash and bounce off one another's egos in close quarters – Love Is Strange evokes the vibes of a Woody Allen film. Perhaps with this in mind, writer-director Ira Sachs claims the turf as his own even before the opening scene: Instead of soundtrack of jazz classics, Sachs scores his film with the piano musings of Frédéric Chopin. 

Despite the title, there's really nothing strange about love in this sweetly charming film. Although it's a love story about two middle-aged men (who decide to tie the knot and suddenly find themselves at loose ends), their relationship is open, honest, wholesome and completely understandable. The relationship is past the carnal phase and comfortably settled into abiding afterglow of warm, devoted affection. 

Ben (John Lithgow) is a striving artist whose oil paintings have not yet made a dent on the walls of Manhattan's art galleries. George (Alfred Molina) is the breadwinner, teaching music at a New York school. 

They've lived together in a comfy New York apartment for 39 years and now, with social mores starting to drift away from their conservative moorings, Ben and George decide to celebrate the state's new gay marriage laws by inviting friends and family to a touching outdoor wedding. This affirmation becomes their undoing. (Instead of "Love Is Strange," the better title for the film might have been "Love Is Strained.") 

Unfortunately, George's school is a Catholic school and "rules are rules." He loses his teaching job. The hunt for a new apartment reveals how unaffordable New York has become. The high cost of cohabitation forces Ben and George to split up – temporarily, they hope. Ben moves in with his nephew's family while George is "adopted" by a couple of party-hearty gay cops who live downstairs in George and Ben's old apartment tower. 

That's the set-up. It's the Odd Couple squared, with each of the gentlemen tossed into social settings that test the limits of everyone's patience. 

Great performances abound. Marisa Tomei is perfect as a stay-at-home writer/mom who struggles to remain civil while her workday quiet is disrupted by talkative, inquisitive Ben. Her son (Charlie Tahan), a complex teen with a short fuse and a tender side, is mortified that he has to share the bunk-bed in his bedroom with Uncle Ben. 

But it is Lithgow and Molina who carry the show with a glowing subtlety that provides a sense of stability in a world gone crackers. Watching Ben and George cuddle in bed -- exchanging adoring looks and playful kisses – is like watching kittens at play. 

Ben rises above the tensions inside the apartment by seeking solace on the rooftop, with his oils and easel—and the Manhattan skyline as a studio backdrop. George, meanwhile, becomes a bored spectator trapped inside an apartment filled with young party animals playing videogames, watching Game of Thrones and tossing back Margaritas. The prolonged separation is agonizing. When a desperate, unplanned reunion happens one rainy night, there is no need for words. You just want to embrace the screen. 

Sad, unexpected and hurtful things happen in this film, but they always happen off-screen – when a door closes or a subway entrance beckons. Like the characters, we are suddenly confronted with change and left to deal with the consequences. 

There is loss and there is longing but Sachs' film ends on a note of healing. There is new love on the loose in the alleys of Manhattan and the setting sun shines golden from both ends of the street.