Married Life
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: March 7, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
In Married Life, Ira Sachs aims a bit lower than Green but obliterates his target: The funny, the scary, the campy, the sad--they’re all splendidly of a piece. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Married Life congratulates its audience on a sophisticated, humorous complicity in the obvious immorality of Harry's murder plans, as well as in Richard's own ungentlemanly designs on his pal's gorgeous girl. Every adult, the movie suggests, has got a secret. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
To a degree, the dynamic between Brosnan and Cooper resembles Aaron Eckhart and Matt Malloy's relationship from "In The Company Of Men." Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
It's a sly little fable with at least six very obvious homages to Alfred Hitchcock thrillers, and a dark little heart that happily hides under a double-breasted suit. Read full review
75
PremiereRyan Stewart
A collection of Hitchcock character-types trample over each other to win at love in Married Life, a quirky but entertaining period murder farce. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneTasha Robinson
It seems carefully calibrated to shock viewers out of a familiar frame of reference, while leaving nothing behind to take its place. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Is the movie about marriage, or sex, or murder, or the murder plot, or what? I'm not sure. It deals all those cards, and fate shuffles them. You may not like it if you insist on counting the deck after the game and coming up with 52. But if you get 51 and are amused by how the missing card was made to vanish, this may be a movie to your liking. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
It's a drama with elements of black comedy and suspense, European in feeling but American in attitude. Just for fun, it's set in 1949, an era of glamour, of Hitchcock and of husbands even more clueless than they are today. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Chris Cooper, the consummate professional, has no trouble making viewers feel sympathy for a potential killer. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
It's all quite deftly played with a maturity and introspection that may take you by surprise, though Sachs is perhaps too restrained in parts. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
This isn't a film noir, but it hovers in the shadows of that genre of discontent and disillusionment. Read full review
70
VarietyTodd McCarthy
The tone, casting and material form a less-than-perfect match in Married Life, a period domestic drama that never quite decides if it wants to be a credible marital study, a noirish meller or a sly comedy. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
This is the sort of gallows humor that Hitchcock relished drawing out in cruelly amusing cat-and-mouse games, not to be taken too seriously. The same is true of Married Life. The murder plot is not to be taken any more literally than the lethal games of “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.” Read full review
70
SlateDana Stevens
Married Life is a tony, well-upholstered vehicle that glides smoothly toward its destination—but despite an unnecessary and overly sentimental coda, that destination isn't necessarily where you thought you were going all along. Read full review
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
An engaging romance noir, a sort of updated "The Postman Always Rings Twice" that packs its surprises into four characters, none of them predictable. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
A faltering attempt at black comedy mixed with romantic melodrama, Married Life is always on the verge of being interesting but never quite gets there. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleJosh Rosenblatt
With its 1950s decor and upbeat ending (clever camouflage all), Married Life probably won’t show up on the radar of James Dobson’s Focus on the Family anytime soon, but at the risk of supplying the enemy with ammunition, I have to say they might be giving a pass to one of the more ethically dubious films to come out of Hollywood in years. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle Smith
Arch, wry and dry, with its exquisite wallpaper and impeccably blocked fedoras, Married Life is bracingly malicious noir for a while, a sort of gray-flannel-suit take on the Coen brothers' "Blood Simple." Every character seems morally capable of anything. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Albeit slumming with style and a fairly sharp scalpel. Married Life delights in peeling back the bright postwar social veneer to expose the characters' hidden agendas, and if this is a mystery movie, the mystery is other people. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kamal AL-Solaylee
The pleasant surprise is Brosnan. Actually, this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who's seen "The Matador" or "After the Sunset." The former Remington Steele and James Bond is maturing nicely and choosing some complex scripts to show off his acting chops. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
None of these elements quite come together, and while the clothes and props look authentic, the acting doesn't. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Befitting a story about marriage, adultery and murder, all the characters in Married Life are constantly lying to each other. Sometimes they even lie to the audience. Read full review
60
Village VoiceElla Taylor
Though the imprint of Douglas Sirk is all over Sachs's homage to old movies about restless men in bad suits and untrustworthy women in lovely frocks, his immediate reference point is clearly Haynes's "Far From Heaven." Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
The appeal of the cast, the witty dialogue, the gorgeous costumes and production design, and the refreshingly grown-up subject matter can't be discounted. Maybe it is about compromise, after all, because though Married Life has its moments, it's bewildering as a whole. Read full review
60
EmpireStaff (Not credited)
A quartet of great performances and gorgeous scenery go some way to compensating for some strange variances in tone. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
Ultimately, the movie takes its characters, and the absurd ethical dilemma it subjects them to, far too seriously. Read full review
50
TimeRichard Corliss
More a case history than a devious puzzle, the movie is like a story overheard from the next restaurant booth: for all your curiosity as to how it turns out, you're not likely to have much personal investment in the people. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
A macabre comedy of manners with the sting of dry ice, this 2007 ensemble piece captures the social climate of America in the late 40s, when a new anxiety and restlessness began to undermine the postwar optimism. Read full review
40
Film ThreatRick Kisonak
Despite the cast's capable portrayals, it's difficult to connect with or care about any of these characters as, one by one, each stabs another in the back. Read full review
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