A Good Marriage (UK Rating: 15)
Stephen King's name on a film isn't always a guarantee of good Box Office return or, indeed, a good film. The Shawshank Redemption, Carrie and Stand by Me all rose to the top of the pile, yet others didn't fare so well. Apt Pupil, despite starring Ian McKellan, sank without trace, and Pet Semetary hit a new low. Coincidentally, it was the last of his works that King himself adapted for the screen. Until now.This time he brings us A Good Marriage, which is based on one of his short stories and has gone straight to DVD in the UK, after a limited American release. Something of a surprise, considering it boasts lead actors of the calibre of Anthony LaPaglia (TV's Without a Trace) and three-time Oscar nominee, Joan Allen (The Contender, The Crucible, Nixon). However, it needs more than a couple of star turns to make a good movie.
The couple in this marriage is Darcy (Allen) and Bob (LaPaglia). The children are grown up, so she's a stay-at-home wife, while he combines his job as a respected accountant with his interest in coin collecting: coin fairs always seem to coincide with his business trips away from home. They have been married for 25 years when Darcy makes a discovery that leads her to believe her husband has a secret life, one that's decidedly unpleasant. How will she cope, and, more to the point, can the marriage survive?
For anybody that has watched enough police procedurals, Darcy's reasons for believing her husband has a double life are decidedly circumstantial: they immediately appear damning, but their chances of standing up in a court of law are more than a little wobbly. Just about everything is seen from her perspective, which means Bob doesn't get much of a chance to disprove her theory and the audience has more than a few flickers of doubt. Take the earrings he gives her as an anniversary present, which she sees being worn by another woman in a photograph. Surely there's more than one pair of earrings of that design in the world? She clearly thinks not.
From the outset, there is a spectre at the feast - the film starts with Darcy and Bob's 25th anniversary party - a grizzled, elderly guy who watches, drinks, and smokes. His identity is ultimately revealed, tying up a dangling loose end and providing Darcy with some comfort. In all honesty, though, he doesn't add that much to the story. The big disappointment, however, is the acting from the two leads, with neither Allen nor LaPaglia showing what they can really do. There are times when they both look uncomfortable, if not embarrassed, in their roles and Allen teeters on the brink of over acting more than once. LaPaglia, on the other hand, is so low key it's hard to believe he's a man with a big secret.