Falling in Love (Meryl Streep and Robert DeNiro)

In between seeing new films we have been given, we’re watching some we liked and enjoyed about nine or ten years ago. One of these is ‘Falling in Love’, which we first saw in September 2010. I remembered finding it somewhat bittersweet, but had no real memory of the storyline; my husband didn’t remember it at all.

Meryl Streep and Robert DeNiro star as Molly and Frank, two happily married people who happen to live not far away from each other. Molly is married to a doctor, and there’s evidently some tension in their relationship; but they seem mostly to be happy. Frank is married to Ann, and they also seem to be well-suited, on the whole, with two delightful sons.

Frank and Molly bump into each other while doing some last-minute Christmas shopping in a bookshop. They drop some gift-wrapped parcels and manage to get two of them mixed, leading to some surprises on Christmas morning. The film follows them separately in their different lives. They both come across as likeable people of integrity; there’s a rather sad subplot involving Molly’s elderly father.

A few months later they happen to be on the same train… and they start chatting. Neither is considering any form of relationship outside of their marriages, but there’s evidently an attraction. At first it seems as if this will be satisfied in a platonic friendship, but as they meet more often it gradually becomes clear that there’s more involved in their mutual feelings.

It’s the two main actors who make this into an excellent film. There’s not a whole lot of plot, and the coincidences are a tad unbelievable. But Meryl Streep and Robert DeNiro have excellent on-screen chemistry. Both are somewhat quiet, neither has any intention of cheating on their spouses. But their sense of kinship comes across powerfully, and the growing physical attraction too, something that - it would appear - cannot be ignored.

The first time I saw the film, I hoped that it would go one way, and it didn’t. This time I remembered the outcome, though not exactly why it happened. Either possible ending would have led to heartbreak one way or another, and while I would have preferred my choice, what happened in the film worked extremely well - and showed clearly what difficult choices sometimes have to be made.

We found it poignant, even sad, but it was so well done, with such brilliant acting that we both found it almost mesmerising and were totally drawn into the story as we watched.

Definitely recommended. The rating is PG, which I suppose is about right since the bad language is mostly anatomical, and the one scene of intimacy doesn’t show any detail. But the subject matter isn’t really appropriate to children, and I doubt if anyone under the age of about fifteen or sixteen would find it interesting.

Review copyright 2019 Sue's DVD Reviews