Love is Strange

"Love is Strange" stars John Lithgow, Alfred Molina and Marisa Tomei in this story of a marriage of two men who have lived together for 39 years and, under the newly enacted New York law, are able to formally solidify their relationship in a more traditional manner. The problems the two encounter could befall any married couple so this is really not a gay movie but the story of a married couple who happen by chance to be gay. It is also the story of true love and the caring and affection that only beautful relationships can bring about.  Unfortunately, this lovely and sensitive story, told in a better way, would have made a better film. One can only blame the writers, Ira Sachs (who is also the director) and Mauricio Zacharias and/or the editor for preventing this movie from realizing its potential. The continuity and ease of understanding are significantly absent from the film so that the viewer must assume and imagine that which could easily have been shown in an added scene or two. This is even more disturbing when you have such fine performances given by Messrs. Molina and Lithgow and Ms. Tomei all of whom are exemplary in the roles they play. I give the film 2 and ½ stars simply because too many questions are posed for the viewer to try to answer and too many inconsistencies exist for the viewer to follow. Had these writing/editing problems been solved, the film would indeed be worthy of a much higher rating.