We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004)

We Don't Live Here Anymore begins at the ending of two marriages. The couples are Jack and Terry (Mark Ruffalo and Laura Dern), Hank and Edith (Peter Krause and Naomi Watts). The four have been friends for years, and they know each other too well — still there, though, is the plausibility that they're attracted to one another. Maybe that's why they eventually decide to play spouse swap and hope the consequences aren't too cruel. If they weren't so unlikable, we'd possibly relish watching their potentially juicy infidelities. But no. We Don't Live Here Anymore doesn't do anything besides give us too many shrill arguments, too many selfish characters. Dramas that entail a marriage on the rocks can make for compelling entertainment (cough Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), but a single false move can place a so-called "marriage dissolution" film in a purgatory less enjoyable than that of a mid-life- crisis. It's too bad that We Don't Live Here Anymore is a movie made completely out of false moves without a hint of truth in sight.But anyway, back to the couples. They were all once happily married, but kids, lost opportunities, and an overall feeling of discontent has left them miserable. Jack and Edith are having an affair, meeting in shady hotels, forests, and even each other's houses to rendezvous — but all dirtiness aside, both feel much too guilty to do anything serious regarding their physical attraction. Terry, meanwhile, is dissatisfied in the role of a homemaker; with Jack's standoffishness to fuel the fire, she feels as though she is failing at the few jobs life throws at her every day. Hank, the most thinly written character in the movie and possibly a sociopath, is a serial cheater who doesn't understand why infidelity could ruin a marriage — to him, lack of conscience is a given. Sooner or later, though, the truth about the entire situation comes to light, but it's surprising just how much it doesn't have an effect on us.The writing is stilted, the dialogue coming across with the forced effort of the play that draped the core of 1977's Opening Night, and the characters just aren't winsome enough for us to care about what happens to them. Jack and Edith's affair is only thinly developed — chemistry darts around them. Technically, this probably should happen — they aren't meant to be together — but the desperation doesn't seem drenched in sadness, instead boredom. And poor Dern and Krause: Dern, as terrific as she is, is given a role that requires her to be raucous at the worst of times, and Krause seems to dwell under the shadow of his fellow actors in the thin, philandering husband role.Other complaints abound (strange how characters have flashbacks from the camera's point-of-view instead of their own, how a voice-over details the film for a narrow five minutes then miraculously disappears), but I'd rather not dwell on them. The performances are good, but We Don't Live Here Anymore doesn't have enough of a soul to make sitting through its bleak 98 minutes worth it. Read more reviews at petersonreviews.com

the marriage as game. hunt. cage. the tension, indifference, cruelty, fear, need of the other, masks, words out of common language, hope, sacrifices, escapes. and an empty circle. nothing new. but this film is different. not for the friendship of families, not for good performance but for rules of games. Mark Ruffalo and Peter Krause are faces of one character. the physical similitude is part of same gestures. Laura Dern is another version , at different age, of Naomi Watts. all is a new form of Who is afraid of Virginia Woolf. only space is different. its charm source is possibility to be picture for many families. prefiguration, image of ordinary crisis, end of any hope form. nothing complicated. only games.

Couples with issues engaging in adultery, swapping partners, thus creating more issues. There's quite a few of these kind of movies. I never really get the point. But once in a while there's something to be found. But not in this one. These couples are supposively quite smart and according to the formula one of them is a writer (could have been an actor as well). And then they tend to make witty remarks. But not really. It's all just pretentious nothing. I greatly disliked this movie. It's embarrassingly awkward. It's not just that none of the characters are likable, none of them seems to have any backbone or heart, but they are really just hollow random inconsistent characters. Wandering bags of bones, blood and genitals. Which makes it impossible to care about what happens to them, what mess they create for themselves. Whatever. The dialogues and interactions between the 'characters' are so random, vague, illogical, pretentious and inconsistent, it leaves you cringing throughout the whole movie. Apparently Naomi Watts made this movie shortly after 21 Grams. I loved her in that movie. That was good drama,with believable characters. It's a shame to see her talent being wasted in a travesty of a movie like this. But no rain, no shine. This movie is rain for sure. Acid rain.

Amazing and disturbing. That's what I thought when the credit for this film began to roll. I wanted to go back and see certain scenes again. I wanted to listen to the dialogues again. I did. I wanted to clap for all the four main leads for making the whole story so real. And my feeling after the movie ended said it all. I just sat there marveling at the manner in which the film tackles the issue of adultery head-on. I have not read the short stories on which this film is based and I don't know if I want to read them now. I think this movie has conveyed enough. The first scene - 2 men, 2 women. A get-together. Which are the couples? Hmmm..Not Sure. (This could be a spoiler) 2nd Scene - Yes! There it is, I thought. Now that we are already into it what is remaining to be shown? This is: The confrontation, the revenge, the escaping (metaphorically - from the failure of the respective marriages), the justification and finally facing the consequences and hence defining the road for the future. All this makes the movie. The ending is beautiful and and apt. The dialogues are the backbone of this film. When all the four characters know what is going on (this is a spoiler) how can they deal or come through the whole situation? Through communication of course - verbal and non-verbal. And what the characters speak or show so painfully conveys what is going on inside them. And yes - children do understand if parents are happy with each other or not. At times silent witnesses; at times trying to bring them together in their own little ways. The music and the settings (houses and outdoors) are well chosen to convey the moods of the characters. The editing is such that the scenes actually tell us what thoughts flow into and from the minds of the four leads. It's a lovely movie all in all - a small indie film that should not be missed by any hardcore movie lover.