The Story Of Us (1999)

After 15 years of marriage and two children, a wife (Michelle Pfeiffer) realizes she has changed while her husband (Bruce Willis) has remained the same. They've come across an impasse in their marriage and they must decide if it's worth saving. Directed by Rob Reiner (WHEN HARRY MET SALLY). Told in non linear fashion, the template for this sort of film is Stanley Donen's TWO FOR THE ROAD (1967). That's some big shoes to fill and Reiner's movie spends the bulk of its running time showing us the lows of the marriage and suddenly in the film's last few minutes, it's fixed and everyone can go home happy! At least, TWO FOR THE ROAD's ending was ambiguous enough to suggest that nothing had really been solved. And that's the problem, everything is on the surface and its glib ending is an indicator that the film is reluctant to dig deep into the actual complexity that is marriage. It's a pity because the one thing the film has going for it are Willis and Pfeiffer who are wonderful together, talk about your chemistry. You feel that they belong together but if only they'd gotten a movie worthy of them. With Red Buttons, Betty White, Julie Hagerty, Tim Matheson, Jayne Meadows, Rita Wilson, Tom Poston and Paul Reiser.