David Frankel, review of Hopes Springs (2012)

“Every struggling young writer has been told ‘write what you know,’ despite a digital library’s worth of contradictory evidence. Stephen Crane never went to war. Ray Bradbury never went to space. Dante, as far as we know, never went to hell. And Vanessa Taylor has never been married.

“Still, her debut feature screenplay is for ‘Hope Springs,’ which opens Wednesday and stars Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones. They play partners in an atrophied relationship that might have sprung from a middle-class, boomer-marriage surveillance tape: Kay (Ms. Streep) is gentle but fed up, tired of a life that’s not just sexless but affection free. Arnold (Mr. Jones) has withdrawn into work and golf, his profound silences suggesting a fossilized soul. Only when Kay delivers an ultimatum does Arnold agree, begrudgingly, to travel to Maine from Nebraska to consult a celebrated couples counselor, Dr. Feld (Steve Carell). Arnold packs his toothbrush, and his unhappiness.” […]    –John Anderson, The New York Times, August 3, 2012