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Love Is Strange

  • 20142014
  • RR
  • 1h 34m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
13K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Alfred Molina and John Lithgow in Love Is Strange (2014)
After Ben and George get married, George is fired from his teaching post, forcing them to stay with friends separately while they sell their place and look for cheaper housing -- a situation that weighs heavily on all involved.
Play trailer2:13
5 Videos
43 Photos
  • Drama
  • Romance

After Ben and George get married, George is fired from his teaching post, forcing them to stay with friends separately while they sell their place and look for cheaper housing -- a situation... Read allAfter Ben and George get married, George is fired from his teaching post, forcing them to stay with friends separately while they sell their place and look for cheaper housing -- a situation that weighs heavily on all involved.After Ben and George get married, George is fired from his teaching post, forcing them to stay with friends separately while they sell their place and look for cheaper housing -- a situation that weighs heavily on all involved.

IMDb RATING
6.7/10
13K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Ira Sachs
  • Writers
    • Ira Sachs
    • Mauricio Zacharias
  • Stars
    • John Lithgow
    • Alfred Molina
    • Marisa Tomei
Top credits
  • Director
    • Ira Sachs
  • Writers
    • Ira Sachs
    • Mauricio Zacharias
  • Stars
    • John Lithgow
    • Alfred Molina
    • Marisa Tomei
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 77User reviews
    • 163Critic reviews
    • 82Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 wins & 23 nominations

    Videos5

    Theatrical Trailer
    Trailer 2:13
    Theatrical Trailer
    #1
    Trailer 2:11
    #1
    'Love Is Strange' - Secrets of Movie Magic with John Lithgow
    Clip 0:48
    'Love Is Strange' - Secrets of Movie Magic with John Lithgow
    Clip
    Clip 1:05
    Clip
    Clip
    Clip 1:11
    Clip

    Photos43

    Alfred Molina and Christian Coulson in Love Is Strange (2014)
    Marisa Tomei and John Lithgow in Love Is Strange (2014)
    John Lithgow and Charlie Tahan in Love Is Strange (2014)
    John Lithgow, Darren E. Burrows, and Charlie Tahan in Love Is Strange (2014)
    Alfred Molina in Love Is Strange (2014)
    John Lithgow and Charlie Tahan in Love Is Strange (2014)
    Alfred Molina in Love Is Strange (2014)
    John Lithgow in Love Is Strange (2014)
    Alfred Molina and Charlie Tahan in Love Is Strange (2014)
    John Lithgow in Love Is Strange (2014)
    Alfred Molina and John Lithgow in Love Is Strange (2014)
    Alfred Molina in Love Is Strange (2014)

    Top cast

    Edit
    John Lithgow
    John Lithgow
    • Ben Hullas Ben Hull
    Alfred Molina
    Alfred Molina
    • George Gareaas George Garea
    Marisa Tomei
    Marisa Tomei
    • Kate Hullas Kate Hull
    Charlie Tahan
    Charlie Tahan
    • Joeyas Joey
    Tatyana Zbirovskaya
    • Zlataas Zlata
    Olya Zueva
    Olya Zueva
    • Eugeniaas Eugenia
    Jason Stuart
    Jason Stuart
    • Officiantas Officiant
    Darren E. Burrows
    Darren E. Burrows
    • Elliotas Elliot
    • (as Darren Burrows)
    Harriet Sansom Harris
    Harriet Sansom Harris
    • Honeyas Honey
    • (as Harriet Harris)
    Cheyenne Jackson
    Cheyenne Jackson
    • Tedas Ted
    Manny Perez
    Manny Perez
    • Robertoas Roberto
    Christina Kirk
    Christina Kirk
    • Mindyas Mindy
    John Cullum
    John Cullum
    • Father Raymondas Father Raymond
    Eric Tabach
    Eric Tabach
    • Vladas Vlad
    Tank Burt
    Tank Burt
    • Doreenas Doreen
    Daphne Gaines
    Daphne Gaines
    • Lindaas Linda
    Christopher King
    • Lawyeras Lawyer
    Maryann Urbano
    • Social Workeras Social Worker
    • Director
      • Ira Sachs
    • Writers
      • Ira Sachs
      • Mauricio Zacharias
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    After nearly four decades together, Ben (John Lithgow) and George (Alfred Molina) finally tie the knot in an idyllic wedding ceremony in lower Manhattan. But when George loses his job soon after, the couple must sell their apartment and - victims of the relentless New York City real estate market - temporarily live apart until they can find an affordable new home. While George moves in with two cops (Cheyenne Jackson and Manny Perez) who live down stairs, Ben lands in Brooklyn with his nephew (Darren Burrows), his wife (Marisa Tomei), and their temperamental teenage son (Charlie Tahan), with whom Ben shares a bunk bed. While struggling with the pain of separation, Ben and George are further challenged by the intergenerational tensions and capricious family dynamics of their new living arrangements. —Sony Pictures Classics
    • older man older man relationship
    • gay marriage
    • gay couple
    • gay love
    • same sex marriage
    • 97 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Genres
      • Drama
      • Romance
    • Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
      • Rated R for language
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Ben's paintings were done by painter Boris Torres, who is also director Ira Sachs' husband.
    • Goofs
      When George advises the young girl playing a Frédéric Chopin piece on the piano (supposedly without sufficient feeling), that she should let the music take her somewhere, surprise or even overwhelm her, he says that this is as important as "knowing the difference between a half-step and a semitone". Fact is, a half-step IS a semitone; there is no difference at all.
    • Quotes

      George: I believe the world is a better place if people aren't lying.

    • Connections
      Featured in Nostalgia Critic: Does PG Mean Anything Anymore? (2016)
    • Soundtracks
      Berceuse in D-Flat Major, Op. 57
      Written by Frédéric Chopin

      Performed by Idil Biret

      Courtesy of Naxos of America, Inc.

    User reviews77

    Review
    Top review
    10/10
    A film about gay love and marriage in NYC and the complications affecting many lives that ensue after the wedding.
    LOVE IS STRANGE, a film, unaffectedly directed by Ira Sachs, is so natural and unassuming in its portrayal of relationships that the divide between audience and the characters on the screen disappears; we are directly slipping into their lives with the ease of familiarity. There is a formal beauty to the movie, thanks to the cinematography of Christos Voudouris - the way he captures each space - delineated not only through décor, but through the light which mutates with the atmosphere, very much like a Chardin still-life painting, classic in its grandeur and silence.

    The plot revolves around two gay men who have lived together for 39 years and finally get married, a decision that will alter their lives in ways that are unexpected and transforming. We first meet Ben, a seventy-one year old artist, (John Lithgow in a breathtaking performance) and his partner George (Alfred Molina in an equally fine portrayal,) a music teacher in a Catholic school - both excitedly, and nervously preparing for the ceremony and the post- wedding party. From the moment we first view Lithgow and Molina singing a duet together - their voices and theatrics in synch and at odds - tender intimacy is apparent. Ira Sachs and co-writer Mauricio Zacharias have created two remarkably gentle and loving individuals, their intimacy and enduring connection, is both understated and powerfully passionate.

    The consequences of ultimately legitimizing their union bear witness to the harsh realities that accompany that choice. Soon after the nuptials, George gets fired from his job, and the economic demands of existing in NYC, forced to sell the apartment in order to find more affordable housing, interrupts their former cadence of living. Having no alternative, George and Ben, temporarily separate to move in with friends and relatives till they can find a home of their own. Molina and Lithgow stunningly convey the anguish of living apart and the intense longing of being united again. It is as if one person is sliced in half – going through the motions, but not fully functioning without the other.

    LOVE IS STRANGE also references the mysterious corridor of generational diversity - both fractious and enriching. The anxious, rebellious teenager slowly embracing life's uncertainties embodied by Joey, Ben's great-nephew in an excellent performance by Charlie Tahan who is likable, secretive and obnoxious – an eternal artifact of an adolescent's growing awareness of life's promises and aching discomforts. And approaching mid-life, are his parents - Kate (Marisa Tomei - a natural wonder) - a writer trying to meet the demands of motherhood and still do her own work and Elliot (Darren E. Burrows) a father too wrapped up in doing business (supporting the family?) to notice the splintering family dynamic. Tomei's facial expressions convey a woman's inner tug-of-war between being a caregiver and accomplishing her own ambitions, shifting from haggardly frustrated to a luminous empathy, particularly for the growing pains of her son on the cusp of adulthood.

    Director Ira Sachs has given us a tone poem to the beauty, delight and fragility of living in a city - New York - dynamic, diverse and constantly changing, echoing the vicissitudes of life as we stumble through our own personal unfolding. A love story that has depth and endurance - delicate and supple, both romantic and mundane, LOVE IS STRANGE is wrenchingly lovely and generous, but also a reminder that nothing is permanent.
    helpful•75
    29
    • graupepillard
    • Apr 26, 2014

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 18, 2014 (Greece)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • Greece
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official Twitter
    • Languages
      • English
      • Russian
    • Also known as
      • aşk Başkadır
    • Filming locations
      • New York City, New York, USA
    • Production companies
      • Parts and Labor
      • Faliro House Productions
      • Faliro House Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $2,262,223
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $117,276
      • Aug 24, 2014
    • Gross worldwide
      • $3,057,388
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 34 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Related news

    Ira Sachs, Mya Taylor, Jude Dry Sign With Fusion Entertainment (Exclusive)
    Ira Sachs, Mya Taylor, Jude Dry Sign With Fusion Entertainment (Exclusive)
    May 13Variety Film + TV
    Top 100 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2022: #63. Ira Sachs’ Passages
    Top 100 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2022: #63. Ira Sachs’ Passages
    Jan 10IONCINEMA.com

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