Parents' Guide to

The Lovers

By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Mature drama about middle-aged couple; sex, cursing.

Movie R 2017 97 minutes
The Lovers Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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What's the Story?

As THE LOVERS begins, Michael (Tracy Letts) and Mary (Debra Winger), married for decades, are both carrying on long-term affairs, promising their lovers to leave the marriage and start new lives. Mary pretends to work late but visits Robert (Aidan Gillan). Michael argues with the hot-headed Lucy (Melora Walters) about telling his wife. He's so beleaguered by the pressure from Lucy that he pretends he's too busy to see her. In the midst of it all, the passion between the formerly distant Michael and Mary reignites, throwing their affairs and plans into confusion. The action culminates when Mary and Michael's son, Joel (Tyler Ross), visits from college with his girlfriend. He has long understood the marriage was empty but grieves as it dissolves.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

This is a well-crafted, adult work about the high drama and sometimes forgotten passion of the middle aged. While lust and romance among the wrinkled may hold little interest for the teens this might be appropriate for, certain human truths are addressed in The Lovers that anyone could appreciate. Mandy Hoffman's lush soundtrack of orchestral waltzes sounds like scores written for 1950s melodramas, suggesting there's plenty of sweep and importance to the small romantic troubles of ordinary people. Teens may identify with the pain a son feels when his parents' marriage dissolves.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how hard the failing marriage of his parents is on a college-age son. Do you think The Lovers suggests that the son is too young to understand the mixed feelings his parents have for each other?

  • Do you agree that the film's ending suggests that some people only want what they can't have? Can you think of examples of that in life?

  • Why are there so many movies about marriage and its problems?

Movie Details

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