Married Life

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Married Life

PG-13

2008

1h 30m

Crime

Drama

Romance

Biography

Mystery & Thriller

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

56%

Tomatometer

115 Reviews

36%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

After many years of marriage, Harry Allen (Chris Cooper) falls in love with lovely Kay Nesbitt (Rachel McAdams). Harry plots to kill his wife, Pat (Patricia Clarkson), because he feels divorce would be too hard on her. Meanwhile, his roguish best friend, Richard (Pierce Brosnan), is also in love with Kay and would like nothing better than to steal her out from under Harry's nose.

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Critics Consensus

Married Life has excellent performances and flashes of dark wit, but it suffers from tonal shifts and uneven pacing.

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Josh Rosenblatt

Austin Chronicle

Oct 18, 2008

3/5

One of the more ethically dubious films to come out of Hollywood in years.

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Derek Malcolm

London Evening Standard

Aug 1, 2008

2/5

It's a good cast, with Cooper outstanding, but Sachs's direction is stodgy and the screenplay is grindingly self-conscious.

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Tim Robey

Daily Telegraph (UK)

Aug 1, 2008

The movie is determinedly low-key, but honest, with a wrenching break-up scene, sharp work from Clarkson, and a final thought that lingers, about never really knowing what your other half is thinking.

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Dan Sallitt

Senses of Cinema

Oct 12, 2018

Failing to orient itself in any way, it becomes a vacuum, a rote recitation of the mechanics of the murder plot.

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Laura Hiros

Rincón de cine

Mar 22, 2018

3/5

The United States' well-off middle class of the 1950s, its taboos, stereotypes and lifestyles, are reflected in this interesting and harsh film. [Full review in Spanish]

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Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

Aug 27, 2009

The roundelay structure and Hitchcockian nods could have easily given way to a sardonic puppet theater, but Sachs and screenwriter Oren Moverman care too much about their characters to turn them into pawns

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PERCY B

@P.BADINAGE May 8, 2026

Hate to use such strong language, but truly Bloody Awful!!!

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Alain E

@AlainE Dec 30, 2024

This is a profoundly nihilistic assessment of middle class American society in the 1950s. Friends and spouses participate in various relationships without any sense of loyalty. Harry Allen, the main character has fallen head over heels in love with a recent girlfriend and tries to figure out how to get rid of his much older wife. His perception is that his wife is totally devoted to him, a divorce would be devastating and probably killing her with a poison would be a gentler solution. Quickly we learn that the mousy wife interpreted by Patricia Clarkson has a full blown relationship with a much younger man. Then, Harry Allen’s best friend, the suave Pierce Brosnan decides that he deserves more his friend’s girlfriend. In the end only a pet is poisoned while the humans continue their existence often in novel and improved relationships. The whole thing is well photographed and indeed raises serious doubts about the existence of God or any moral code. On Tubi.

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Apr 7, 2020

Slow, boring, predictable zoom camera to get you in moment, super vapid, heavy feminist, low key lesbos, just plain garbage.

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Aug 23, 2017

I went into this one looking for something along the lines of the Coen Brothers film The Man Who Wasn't There, but Lord was this just boring! The idea that a man wants out of his marriage so badly that he's willing to kill his wife is the stuff of many Film Noirs, but the execution here was just dull and un-engaging from start to finish. The performances are okay, if you want to watch some boring folks going about their lives with very little change by he time it wraps up. Rental? At best?

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Nov 9, 2015

Hyvät näyttelijät, tylsä leffa... (Suom. Married life - Avioelämää)

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Sep 14, 2014

I liked this movie, it wasn't what I expected. It has it's own unique charm. A bit drastic in some ways, but still good.

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Ira Sachs

Director

Chris Cooper

Harry Allen

Pierce Brosnan

Richard Langley

Patricia Clarkson

Pat

Rachel McAdams

Kay

David Wenham

John O'Brien

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Synopsis

After many years of marriage, Harry Allen (Chris Cooper) falls in love with lovely Kay Nesbitt (Rachel McAdams). Harry plots to kill his wife, Pat (Patricia Clarkson), because he feels divorce would be too hard on her. Meanwhile, his roguish best friend, Richard (Pierce Brosnan), is also in love with Kay and would like nothing better than to steal her out from under Harry's nose.

Director: Ira Sachs
Producer: Sidney Kimmel, Jawal Nga, Steve Golin, Ira Sachs
Screenwriter: Oren Moverman, Ira Sachs
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co: Firm Films, Anonymous Content
Rating: PG-13 (Some Thematic Elements|Scene of Sexuality)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance, Biography, Mystery & Thriller, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 7, 2008, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 12, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.5M
Runtime: 1h 30m

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