Film

Freeman appears to have cornered the market on playing wise old sages who observe the foibles of those around them with loving humanity tinged with a touch of irony. He does it again in this uneven drama, and as good as Freeman is, his wise-old-sage routine is indicative of what’s wrong with the movie. The actors are comfortable in their roles and well cast, but the characters are familiar types who never develop any depth.

The plot involves three different couples at various stages in their lives. Freeman and Alexander’s love is being tested by the shocking loss of their adult son to heroin addiction. Kinnear bumbles out of a marriage to a lesbian finally finding herself (Blair) and then falls into a relationship with a gorgeous woman (Mitchell) who conceals from him her ongoing fling with a married cad (Burke). Hemingway and Davalos are a teen couple who love so intensely that you know they’re doomed.

Benton creates some scenes that work well on their own, but others, like Kinnear’s blowup over a purloined pup, seem pointless and muddled. The tone shifts into comedy at odd moments, and each story feels underdeveloped. There’s only so much Freeman’s gorgeous voiceover can do to hold it all together.