Just from watching the trailer, I knew that I was going to love this premise of a story. It sounds fun, and a nice twist to the whole trope that romanticizes married people cheating on each other. The movie itself does have fun with that concept, and at the same time is able to have dramatic moments that elevates the material, which includes a poignant scene involving the song "It Must Be Love" by the band Madness. I thought this movie definitely hits the landing by the end of it all, and gave reason to see it. However, it wasn't completely great all the way through.
There's a three act structure to this story, and the first act honestly wasn't that good. It seemed likable enough at first, but I found myself restless, uninterested, and a bit bored with the first act of the movie. The second act picked up tremendously and I started to have fun with the movie, but it was the third act that really sealed the deal for me. There was a particular "realness" to where the plot went in the third act that I really appreciated, and the emotional pay off was earned.
Kudos to this small cast of characters, especially Tracy Letts and Debra Winger. Their chemistry together and the subtle comical moments they are able to create here and there, are pretty good. Despite their adulterous acts, the characters they play are well rounded and human enough, to not completely hate on their traits that you may disagree with. The rest of the cast I thought were serviceable enough; like Jessica Sula, but there is a bit of overacting found in Melora Walters, Aiden Gillen, and Tyler Ross, that can get annoying at times.
As a relatively small scale film about relationships, there isn't too much here that makes it completely stand out. It has it's merit to justify checking it out, but ultimately that depends on how much you can tolerate the problems it does have.
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