Exploration of marriage sweet but familiar
At its gooey center, “I Do ... Until I Don’t” is like vanilla cake: It's sweet but generally has little memorable about it.
Writer-director Lake Bell’s examination of marriage as a tradition hardly ventures past the norm regarding the arguments about whether tying any kind of knot is good or bad.
There’s not much new in the script, but what gives her recipe for romantic fun a flavor boost is a first-rate cast featuring Ed Helms, Mary Steenburgen, Paul Reiser, Amber Heard, Wyatt Cenac and Dolly Wells. Each performer adds his or her own brand of silly seasoning to the mixture, and the vanilla product develops some richness.
The way Bell uses her combinations of characters keeps the story fresh and makes a plot that has long been a staple of Hallmark movies seem layered with depth. The film, warm and funny, isn't complicated, but it has enough mixing and matching to prove interesting.
Bell also stars in the movie, playing Alice, the loving wife of Noah (Helms). Alice Film Center Directed by Lake Bell. R (for sexual material and language) 1:43 at the Gateway and Noah are never apart, as they run a floundering window-blinds business. But their good life starts to suffer because of financial problems with the business and failed efforts to start a family.
There's a bit of tension, too, because Alice thinks Noah has feelings for her younger sister, Fanny (Heard), who lives a bohemian lifestyle with Zander (Cenac). Alice is threatened by both her sister’s beauty and the sexual freedom that Fanny promotes.
All of this comes out just as a British documentary filmmaker visits Vero Beach, Florida, where the couples live. Vivian (Wells) is looking for subjects for her latest film expose to show how marriage is an archaic idea and that couples shouldn't have to enter into a contract beyond seven years. Whether the couples believe her theory doesn't matter; she just needs chaos in front of her camera.
Alice and Fanny agree to be part of the filming along with Cybil (Steenburgen) and Harvey (Reiser), a couple who have been married for so long that they might be reaching a point where an escape clause sounds good.
The filmmaking icing on Bell’s work is this: She includes the documentarymaking as part of the story. This is a great strand that runs through the film, energized by the way Vivian pompously pushes her agenda to achieve the results she wants and not what naturally occurs. Bell also shot the documentary footage, and it reflects all of the imagery that has become so familiar in the work of iffy documentarians.
Wells captures the blend of wackiness and ego that has made documentarians such as Michael Moore bigger stars than their productions. At one moment, Vivian can be skillfully arguing her points about marriage and, moments later, show so much insecurity that she needs to spoon her assistant.
Bell has created two movies that are as different as vanilla and chocolate. The main story has a workmanlike quality that becomes more entertaining because of the way the cast members give their characters extra depth. There’s nothing new about a jealous wife or a man reaching a midlife crisis except when actors such as Bell and Reiser are behind the roles. Both have an instant likability that keeps them on the good side of an audience.
The best thing about “I Do ... Until I Don’t” is that it’s an old-fashioned love story.
Bell doesn’t take a lot of chances, but her commitment to her story, the actors selected to give that story life and a wicked sense of humor about documentaries sprinkle the film with some tasty moments.