This film is part of Rentals

Love Is Strange 15 rating

Ira Sachs’s refined Manhattan-set drama sees Alfred Molina’s Ben and John Lithgow’s George in the latter days of a tender, loving 39-year relationship.

Drama 2014 95 mins

Director: Ira Sachs

Overview

Ira Sachs (Keep the Lights On) delivers a tender, faultlessly observed drama about the latter days of a life-long love. The film opens with the joyous wedding of George and Ben (Alfred Molina and John Lithgow) who have been together for 39 years, but when Ben loses his job the couple are forced to leave their Manhattan abode and stay in different apartments while they hunt for a new place of their own.

Both leads give nuanced, award-deserving performances, as does Marisa Tomei as their niece. George and Ben may inhabit a familiar Manhattan of West Side shoebox apartments, galleries and classical concerts, but it’s refreshingly peopled with all walks of life. This is a love story for grown-ups and also Sachs’ ode to the beauty of NYC.