Desertman84
Marie and Bruce is a black comedy that stars Julianne Moore and Matthew Broderick.Tom Cairns directs the psychological comedy drama Marie and Bruce, adapted from the play by Wallace Shawn.The story was set over a period of 24 hours.It involves the troubled marriage of neurotic New Yorkers Marie and Bruce. What follows is a bleak psychological study of the breakdown of a modern relationship. Despite the interesting premise,the viewer might find this film not-so- interesting due to the fact that both Marie and Bruce are too unlikable to the point that one might hardly care about their characters.But nevertheless,I commend the performances of both Moore and Broderick.
veerybird
"What do I know about man's destiny? I could tell you more about radishes." -Samuel BeckettMarie and Bruce tell me what I otherwise often take for granted about radishes, for me an apt metaphor for long-term relationships. Marie dwells on her disgust for her husband, Bruce, ad nauseam, and she continues to "bite" into him, taste the disgust anew, and "bite" again. This disgust seems to be the driving force behind the reverie that leaves her craving for that radish all over again. Bruce goes about his day, being the radish, knowing it, accepting it, even flaunting it in the face of Marie's disgust, vised between her gritted teeth. Some dialog reflects apt wisdom from John Gray's Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, and Deborah Tannen's You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation. Taste for radishes may be something acquired, as is taste for theater of the absurd. Bravo Wally and Tom. I love Beckett, Pinter, Ionesco, Stoppard, ... and you.
Monsieur Halifax
Marie. Bruce. Marie and Bruce. It's very interesting art-house film. It's so surreal. Both of the main characters are so annoying that they feel almost unsympathetic. The dialog is so random and unnatural. But I like it. As matter a fact, Marie and Bruce is one of my all time favorite film. Marie and Bruce seem to have been in long marriage and they spend most of the days by nagging on each other and at the same time they both don't listen the other. It's kind of sadistic relationship. Like Marie says to Bruce: "Don't you get it, you're not even a living thing! It's easy to leave you because you're not real." It kind of works both ways. They are both zombies, totally numb. Marie mocks Bruce all the time but Bruce doesn't even react to those insults. Like he doesn't hear what Marie says. And every time Bruce starts conversation with Marie she just rolls her eyes and seems to be away like dreaming. Marie despises Bruce and at the same time she loves him. Like she says herself: "Bruce is like a god." Bruce on the other hand, doesn't feel any kind of sexual attraction against Marie. He tries to make a hit on a girl in a restaurant. He goes to the dirty hotel room just to watch the naked woman in a house across the street. He makes conversations with every woman on the party except Marie. Marie really enjoys mocking Bruce and she somehow enjoys the coldness of Bruce. Julianne Moore and Matthew Broderick were both adorable and their performances are very enjoyable. Marie and Bruce is surreal love story between two tired people who are seriously tired from each other but they can't live without each other. I highly recommend this film but I have to warn, it's not easy peace to watch. There is lot of symbols and scenes that might not make any sense. Marie and Bruce is movie for a thinking person.10 out of 10
peter_WMC
If you are expecting the usual Hollywood pulp then forget this one. Much more in the style of Fellini or other abstract/surrealistic European directors. It is ostensibly a day in the life of a couple in New York. But is it? There are two primary characters who speak their innermost thoughts. Be warned, this is very graphic at times. This is overlaid with the banal chatter from the other people we encounter through the day. But is it actually one woman's thoughts and is the man in her imagination? Or is it the man's thoughts and fantasies? An intriguing movie that operates at a different level of consciousness than usual. Based on a stage play, which shows. It would have been even more gripping as a play. Acting and direction are all superb. Stay with it, it is worth it. It will haunt you for days after.
AD
