There's a moment in Edward Burns' latest film where Gretchen Mol's Eve Miller, a former musician turned reluctant suburban wife, sits at her old piano. Her fingers hover over the keys, trembling with the weight of forgotten dreams. It's in quiet moments like these that “Millers in Marriage” finds its soul – exploring not just the what-ifs of life, but the what-nows.
Burns, who has spent his career chronicling the intimate dynamics of East Coast families, assembles perhaps his most impressive ensemble yet for this tender exploration of three interconnected couples navigating the thorny landscape of middle-aged love. The film, which premiered at TIFF 2024, weaves together stories that feel both deeply personal and universally resonant.
At its heart is Eve Miller, played with devastating vulnerability by Mol, whose growing attraction to a music journalist serves as both escape and awakening. Mol perfectly captures the quiet desperation of someone who has spent years dampening their own light, making Eve's potential infidelity feel less like betrayal and more like desperate gasps for air.
Julianna Margulies brings similar depth to Maggie, Eve's sister, whose ascending literary career creates fascinating friction with her husband's stalled ambitions. Their story tackles the delicate dance of supporting your partner's success while wrestling with your own feelings of inadequacy. Margulies excels in showing how triumph can taste bittersweet when it comes at the perceived cost of your marriage's equilibrium.
The third storyline, following fashion executive Renee's relationship with the recently divorced Andy Miller, adds another layer to the film's examination of love's second acts. Their fresh romance serves as both counterpoint and mirror to the other relationships, asking whether knowing what we know about marriage's challenges makes us better equipped for new love – or merely more scared of its possibilities.
Burns directs with a light touch that belies the weight of his themes. His camera often lingers in doorways and windows, positioning us as intimate observers to these private struggles. The result feels less like voyeurism and more like being trusted with someone's diary – these characters' fears and desires laid bare with unflinching honesty.
What elevates “Millers in Marriage” above standard relationship drama is its refusal to deal in villains or easy answers. Every character is afforded the dignity of their perspective, even when their actions might pain us. The film understands that in matters of the heart, we can be simultaneously right and wrong, selfish and selfless, brave and afraid.
The interconnected nature of the stories could have felt contrived in lesser hands, but Burns and his exceptional cast make these relationships feel organic and lived-in. The shared history between characters bleeds through in small moments – a knowing glance, an unfinished sentence, the weight of unspoken words.
If there's a criticism to be made, it's that some of the secondary characters could have been more fully developed. The film occasionally hints at interesting dynamics that it doesn't have time to fully explore. However, this feels less like oversight and more like recognition that life's stories rarely tie up neatly.
“Millers in Marriage” reminds us that love – whether new, old, or somewhere in between – requires constant negotiation between who we are and who we thought we'd be. It's about the courage to acknowledge when we've lost ourselves and the even greater courage to find our way back – sometimes to our partners, sometimes to ourselves, and occasionally to both.
As the film moves toward its conclusion, it offers no easy resolutions but something far more valuable: hope. Not the simplistic hope of romantic comedies, but the harder-won hope that comes from seeing ourselves clearly and choosing to love anyway.
This is thoughtful, mature filmmaking that treats its audience with the same respect it shows its characters. In theaters and VOD February 21st, 2025, it's a worthy addition to Burns' exploration of the human heart and further proof that some of the most profound stories are found in life's ordinary moments.
