Winger delights in ‘The Lovers’

T h e r e ’ s a t e e n y - t i n y movie, complete and perfect, deep inside “The Lovers”; it’s about five seconds long and it stars Debra Winger’s eyes. She’s Mary, a longmarried woman juggling a husband (Tracy Letts) and a lover (Aidan Gillen) and wondering how to tell her son (Tyler Ross) that his parents are splitting up. In a brief moment in a car where she gazes into the rearview mirror, there it is: anger, puzzlement, soulfulness, resignation — all in one silent, devastating moment.

Winge r d o e s n’t make movies very often these days; her last signific ant role, in “Rachel Getting Married,” was nine years ago. So I’m not particularly inclined to lean on “The Lovers” too much for being a little

BDebra Winger, Tracy Letts, Tyler Ross, Melora Walters, Aidan Gillen and Jessica Sula. Directed by Azazel Jacobs.

R for sexuality and language. 34 minutes. 1 hour, stagy (though it is); it’s such a pleasure to see her again.

The idea here is that both spouses are cheating on the other — Mary’s lover is a tedious writer, husband Michael’s paramour (Melora Walters) is a needy ballet teacher — and that each thinks the other doesn’t know.

And, though their marriage is at its end, there’s still a spark between them; something faintly electric that refuses to die.

Written and directed by Azazel Jacobs (“Terri”), “The Lovers” is unmistakably a comedy; playful music and cute double-takes abound. Mary and Michael are deliberately crafted as bland, with regular-person unglamorous jobs involving cubicles and a lot of beige, and we don’t see what led them to stray from their marriage.

But you wonder, throughout, how Michael could be letting Mary slip away.

L e t t s h a s s o m e f i n e moments, but it’s Winger who really brings the color to this movie, creating a woman filled with disappointment and passion and wit, t aking a small- sc ale comedy of manners to a darker, richer place. Feast your eyes on her; it might be a while before you get a chance again.