Film: Familiar feelings in ‘Hope Gap

Letters: Signed, sealed, delivered, your views

Divorce story Familiar feelings in ‘Hope Gap’ by Michael J. Casey

I"have"been"here"before, But"when"or"how"I"cannot"tell: I"know"the"grass"beyond"the"door, The"sweet"keen"smell, The"sighing"sound,"the"lights"around"the"shore. T hose%are%the%first%lines%of%“Sudden%Light,”%a%poem%by% Rossetti%—%a%favorite%of%Grace%(Annette%Bening).%She% collects%poems%because%they%make%her%feel%less%isoD lated.%Her%husband%of%29%years,%Edward%(Bill%Nighy),% collects%history%texts%and%updates%wiki%pages,%because%he%needs%to%correct%the% mistakes%of%others.%He%speaks%littleL%she%speaks%mostly%in%barbs.

Theirs%is%not%a%happy%marriage,%but%it’s%familiar.%Grace%and%Edward%have%one%adult% son:%Jamie%(Josh%O’Connor),%a%young%man%in%a%rapidly%ending%relationship.%Grace’s% relationship%is%also%rapidly%ending.%Edward%has%found%another,%probably%for%the%better.% Grace%feels%betrayed.%She’s%always%loved%Edward.%At%least,%she%thought%she%did.%Well,% she%said%it%anyway%—%that%counts%for%something.%Doesn’t%it? Hope"Gap,%an%English%family%drama%from%writer/director%William%Nicholson,%is%a%

quiet%analysis%of%two% people%who%never% belonged%together.%The% movie%is%told%entirely%in% the%present,%and%we% see%nothing%of%their% early%days:%If%they% were%happy%together,% or%if%they%weren’t.% Certainly,%they%had% some%happy%days,%but% they%were%few%and%far% between.%And%as%life% progressed,%they%grew% further%and%further% apart.%Reality%set%in:% Grace%wanted%something,%and%Edward%was%close%enough.%Edward%didn’t%know%what%he% wanted%and%took%direction%easily.

Somewhere%along%the%way,%they%both%found%themselves.%And%they%found%that%the% person%they%wanted%to%be%was%not%the%person%they%had%become.%When%Grace%conD fronts%Edward%at%the%home%of%his%girlfriend,%she’s%ready%to%make%a%scene.%But%then%she% looks%around%the%living%room%and%sees%nothing%resembling%their%life%together.%“This%is% what%you%wanted%all%this%time?”%she%asks%with%condescension.%And,%in%almost%the%same% breath,%she%realizes%that%the%man%before%her%is%nothing%like%the%man%she%thought%he% was:%“You%must%have%been%miserable.” Without%Bening,% Hope"Gap%wouldn’t%work.%Her%accent%is%offDputting,%but%her%perforD mance%is%a%tightrope%act%of%shrill%pettiness%masking%vulnerability.%Nighy%is%equally%good:% Slender,%slight%and%crumpled.%His%whole%body%looks%like%it’s%weathered%her%storm.%You% kind%of%feel%happy%for%him%when%he%gets%out.%In%later%scenes,%he%even%looks%younger.

Both%characters%feel%fully%realized,%as%does%the%son,%Jamie.%There%must%be%a%sliver% of%autobiography%hereL%otherwise,%the%whole%thing%would%topple%over%into%theatrics,% hysterics%and%clearDcut%winners%and%losers.%Instead,%Nicholson%leaves%all%that%crashing% energy%out%along%the%white%cliffs%of%Hope%Gap,%an%overlook%point%the%three%of%them%freD quent.

There%are%no%winners%in%a%divorce.%No%losers,%either.%Just%a%narrowing%sense%of% loneliness%disconnecting%you%from%all%the%good%in%the%world.%At%first,%it%seems%eternal.% But,%as%Grace%tells%Jamie:%“After%a%while,%it%stops%being%interesting.”

The%pain%dulls,%the%grass%greens%and%grows,%poetic%words%once%again%fill%the%soul% and%life%goes%on.% ON THE BILL: ‘Hope Gap’ at the Boulder International Film Festival. 3 p.m. Saturday, March 7, Boulder High School, 1604 Arapahoe Ave. Opens in wide release on March 13. SCREEN MEDIA FILMS

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