The Lovers (2017 film)

Last updated
The Lovers
The Lovers film.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Azazel Jacobs
Written byAzazel Jacobs
Produced by
  • Ben LeClair
  • Chris Stinson
Starring
CinematographyTobias Datum
Edited byDarrin Navarro
Music byMandy Hoffman
Production
company
A24
Distributed byA24
Release dates
  • April 22, 2017 (2017-04-22)(Tribeca)
  • May 5, 2017 (2017-05-05)(United States)
Running time
94 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2.2 million [2]

The Lovers is a 2017 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Azazel Jacobs. It stars Debra Winger, Tracy Letts, Aidan Gillen, Melora Walters, Tyler Ross, and Jessica Sula.

Contents

It had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 22, 2017. It was released on May 5, 2017, by A24.

Plot

Mary and Michael are a married couple. They live together, but are estranged from one another. They are both having long-standing extramarital affairs—she with Robert and he with Lucy. Their lovers have both emphatically demanded they break up the marriage and Mary and Michael have vowed that they will do so after a visit from their son, Joel, and his new girlfriend, Erin.

This plan goes awry, however, when an early-morning kiss between Mary and Michael leads to sex. They find themselves falling in love again and having passionate sexual encounters. Simultaneously, their respective lovers become more and more needy and demanding, which makes them less appealing to Mary and Michael.

On the train to see his parents, Joel warns Erin that their marriage is a failed one and that his parents are horrible people. He is immediately tense and wary when he enters their house, but is surprised to find his parents acting lovingly toward one another. He begins to think they may have changed.

Mary's and Michael's lovers become increasingly agitated. Robert is the first to confront his rival, telling Michael in a grocery store that Mary is going to leave him. Then, Lucy approaches Mary in her car and hisses at her. These confrontations cause the renewed rapport between Mary and Michael and their son to fall apart. Mary leaves the house for several hours and cries in her car. Joel's anger boils over and he punches a hole in a wall.

When Mary returns to the house, Joel storms out, after crying in Erin's arms. Mary and Michael do not appear to be upset with each other, but the next scene shows them packing their belongings to depart the house. Following scenes show Mary at Robert's house and Michael at Lucy's.

However, the film ends with Michael phoning Mary and telling her, "I can't stop thinking about you."

Cast

Production

On April 20, 2016, it was reported that A24 would finance and distribute the Azazel Jacobs film The Lovers, with Debra Winger and Tracy Letts in negotiations to star. [3] Filming reportedly concluded on May 27, 2016, after more than a month of shooting in and around the Santa Clarita Valley. [4]

Release

It had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 22, 2017. [5] The film was released on May 5, 2017. [6] Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions acquired international distribution rights to the film. [7]

Reception

Critical response

The Lovers received positive reviews from film critics. It holds an 82% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 113 reviews, with a weighted average of 6.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "With appealing leads and a narrative approach that offers a fresh perspective on familiar themes, The Lovers tells a quietly absorbing story with unexpected emotional resonance." [8] On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 76 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews. [9]

Indian remake

On  April 19, 2024, a remake of The Lovers, Do Aur Do Pyaar , told from a different perspective and different culture, was released in theaters across India. [10] This production also marks the first remake of an A24 film.

Related Research Articles

<i>Terms of Endearment</i> 1983 drama film directed by James L. Brooks

Terms of Endearment is a 1983 American family tragicomedy film directed, written, and produced by James L. Brooks, adapted from Larry McMurtry's 1975 novel of the same name. It stars Debra Winger, Shirley MacLaine, Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Jeff Daniels, and John Lithgow. The film covers 30 years of the relationship between Aurora Greenway (MacLaine) and her daughter Emma Greenway-Horton (Winger).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debra Winger</span> American actress (born 1955)

Debra Lynn Winger is an American actress. She starred in the films An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), Terms of Endearment (1983), and Shadowlands (1993), each of which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Winger won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress for Terms of Endearment, and the Tokyo International Film Festival Award for Best Actress for A Dangerous Woman (1993).

<i>Lambada</i> (film) 1990 American film

Lambada is a 1990 drama film starring J. Eddie Peck, Melora Hardin, Adolfo "Shabba-doo" Quiñones, Ricky Paull Goldin, Dennis Burkley, and Keene Curtis. Lambada was written and directed by Joel Silberg and choreographed by Shabba-Doo.

<i>Shadowlands</i> (1993 film) 1993 British film

Shadowlands is a 1993 British biographical drama film about the relationship between academic C. S. Lewis and Jewish American poet Joy Davidman, her death from cancer, and how this challenged his Christianity. It was directed by Richard Attenborough with a screenplay by William Nicholson based on his 1985 television film and 1989 stage play. The 1985 script began life as I Call It Joy written for Thames Television by Brian Sibley and Norman Stone. Sibley later wrote the book, Shadowlands: The True Story of C. S. Lewis and Joy Davidman. The film won the 1993 BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film. The film marked the last film appearance of English actor Michael Denison.

The Lovers is a trump or "Major Arcana" tarot card.

<i>Diary of the Dead</i> 2007 American horror film by George A. Romero

Diary of the Dead is a 2007 found footage horror film written and directed by George A. Romero. Although independently produced, it was distributed theatrically by The Weinstein Company and was released in cinemas on February 15, 2008 and on DVD by Dimension Extreme and Genius Products on May 20, 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tracy Letts</span> American actor and screenwriter

Tracy S. Letts is an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. He started his career at the Steppenwolf Theatre before making his Broadway debut as a playwright for August: Osage County (2007), for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. As an actor, he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for the Broadway revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (2013).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azazel Jacobs</span> American film director and screenwriter

Azazel Jacobs is an American film director and screenwriter. He is the son of experimental filmmaker Ken Jacobs. His short films include Kirk and Kerry (1997) and Message Machine (2002), and his features include well reviewed The GoodTimesKid (2005), Momma's Man (2008), Terri (2011), The Lovers (2017), French Exit (2020), and His Three Daughters (2023).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carrie Coon</span> American actress (born 1981)

Carrie Alexandra Coon is an American actress. On television, she has starred as Nora Durst in the HBO drama series The Leftovers (2014–2017) and played Gloria Burgle in the third season of the FX anthology series Fargo (2017). She won a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress for The Leftovers and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress for Fargo. She also starred in the second season of the anthology drama series The Sinner (2018) and has played an aspiring socialite in the HBO period drama series The Gilded Age since 2022. For her work in The Gilded Age, she received another Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress.

<i>Elvis & Nixon</i> 2016 American film

Elvis & Nixon is a 2016 American comedy-drama film directed by Liza Johnson and written by Joey Sagal, Hanala Sagal, and Cary Elwes. The film stars Michael Shannon as singer Elvis Presley and Kevin Spacey as President Richard Nixon, and focuses on the December 21, 1970, meeting between the two men at the White House. The film also stars Alex Pettyfer, Johnny Knoxville, Colin Hanks, and Evan Peters. The film was released on April 22, 2016, by Amazon Studios and Bleecker Street.

<i>Thought Crimes: The Case of the Cannibal Cop</i> 2015 American film

Thought Crimes: The Case of the Cannibal Cop is a 2015 American documentary film directed and produced by Erin Lee Carr. The film follows Gilberto Valle, a former NYPD cop was charged with conspiring to kidnap and eat women.

<i>Woman Walks Ahead</i> 2017 film directed by Susanna White

Woman Walks Ahead is a 2017 American biographical drama Western film directed by Susanna White and written by Steven Knight. The film is the story of Catherine Weldon, a portrait painter who travels from New York City to the Dakotas in 1890 to paint a portrait of Sitting Bull. Chaske Spencer and Sam Rockwell also star.

<i>The Clapper</i> (film) 2017 American film

The Clapper is a 2017 American comedy film written and directed by Dito Montiel, based on his novel Eddie Krumble Is the Clapper. It stars Ed Helms, Amanda Seyfried, Tracy Morgan, Adam Levine, Mickey Gooch Jr. and Russell Peters. It was the final film role of Alan Thicke, who died on December 13, 2016.

Patriot is an American comedy-drama television series created by Steven Conrad. It premiered on November 5, 2015, on Amazon Prime Video, with the remaining first-season episodes released on February 23, 2017. It stars Michael Dorman, Kurtwood Smith, Michael Chernus, Kathleen Munroe, Aliette Opheim, Chris Conrad, Terry O'Quinn and Debra Winger. In April 2017, Amazon announced that it had renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on November 9, 2018. In July 2019, Amazon announced that it had no plans for a third season.

<i>All About Nina</i> 2018 comedy-drama film

All About Nina is a 2018 comedy-drama film, written and directed by Eva Vives, in her feature directorial debut. It stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Common, Chace Crawford, Jay Mohr, Kate del Castillo and Beau Bridges.

<i>False Positive</i> (film) 2021 film

False Positive is a 2021 American psychological horror film directed by John Lee from a screenplay he co-write with Ilana Glazer. The film stars Glazer, Justin Theroux, and Pierce Brosnan.

<i>Low Tide</i> 2019 American film

Low Tide is a 2019 American crime drama horror film, written and directed by Kevin McMullin. It stars Keean Johnson, Alex Neustaedter, Daniel Zolghadri, Kristine Froseth, Shea Whigham, and Jaeden Martell.

<i>French Exit</i> (2020 film) 2020 film by Azazel Jacobs

French Exit is a 2020 black comedy-drama film directed by Azazel Jacobs, based on the novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt, who also wrote the screenplay. It tells the story of a Manhattan heiress who moves to Paris with her son with the little money they have left.

<i>Deep Water</i> (2022 film) 2022 film by Adrian Lyne

Deep Water is a 2022 erotic psychological thriller film directed by Adrian Lyne, from a screenplay by Zach Helm and Sam Levinson, based on the 1957 novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith. The film stars Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas, with Tracy Letts, Lil Rel Howery, Dash Mihok, Finn Wittrock, Kristen Connolly, and Jacob Elordi appearing in supporting roles. It marks Lyne's return to filmmaking after a 20-year absence since his last film, Unfaithful (2002).

Mr. Corman is an American comedy-drama television series created by, written by, directed by, and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The series premiered on August 6, 2021, on Apple TV+. In October 2021, the series was canceled after one season.

References

  1. ↑ "The Lovers". Tribeca Film . Archived from the original on March 16, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  2. ↑ "The Lovers". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  3. ↑ Busch, Anita (April 20, 2016). "Debra Winger & Tracy Letts To Star In A24's Divorce Comedy 'The Lovers'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  4. ↑ Spallone, Robert (May 26, 2016). "Debra Winger To Star In Indie Film Shot In Newhall". KHTS. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  5. ↑ Cox, Gordon (March 2, 2017). "Tribeca Film Festival Unveils 2017 Feature Film Slate (FULL LIST)". Variety . Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  6. ↑ Nolfi, Joey (January 4, 2017). "Debra Winger and Tracy Letts are The Lovers in new film's first trailer". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  7. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 13, 2017). "Sony Pictures Worldwide Falls For Debra Winger-Tracy Letts Romantic Comedy 'The Lovers'". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on April 14, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
  8. ↑ "The Lovers (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  9. ↑ "The Lovers". Metacritic . Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  10. ↑ Saibal, Chatterjee (2024-04-20). "Do Aur Do Pyaar Review: An Unpretentious Little Gem That Is Remarkably Comfortable". NDTV. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.