Written and directed by Sarah Polley
It’s summer in Toronto and Margot’s restless. She lives a contented life with Lou, her husband of five years, and they’ve made their two lives one: their house is full of memories and furniture bought together and their lives full of shared jokes, mannerisms, and understanding. It’s the happy-ever-after for most romcoms.
In Sarah Polley’s Take This Waltz, however, it’s the unhappy-soon-after, as a lackluster sex life has Margot’s eyes suddenly fixed on an attractive neighbor who provokes, teases and undoes her in a way her marriage hasn’t for a long while. Is he Mr. Right? Or just unfamiliar?
Polley’s movie is something as uncanny as a cutesy story about infidelity and the reality of the always-greener grass. How Margot explores adultery, trembling, is not particularly novel nor is it all that insightful, and there are plenty of stories about the cold post-mortem reality of fiery romances. Take This Waltz is no great shakes in this regard.
What it does well, and does in abundance, is exhibit and celebrate shared domesticity. Steve Shewchuk’s set decoration is about as high-fidelity as it gets. Margot and Lou’s place is lovingly adorned, and brimming with all the tokens of their shared affection. It’s a cluster of things, and you can smell the worn wooden floors, the dust in the couch, and the sweet breath of the summer air wafting through.
As Margot and Lou, Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen live it too, depicting lived-in couplehood with astonishing ability. Like that perfect pair of jeans that fit so well, they’re completely themselves with each other, and at rest. They goof around, have their own (honestly, a little horrifying) private games, and at one point, Williams shoves her entire hand into Rogen’s mouth. Now if that ain’t companionship…
The materiality and chemistry of this couple’s life is something to behold, and it makes plain how starved the genre is when it comes to a sense of authenticity. It makes the lives of most other romcom couples look like it’s playing out in an IKEA, bloodless and sterile.
It also shows what’s at stake, and you wish the world-building was matched by the emotional interrogation. Polley lets Williams and Luke Kirby, who plays would-be lover Daniel, simmer on screen and wants that to explain Margot’s temptation, but the ugly reckoning is skirted over. Take This Waltz lets itself down.
You of course can’t be let down without first feeling lifted, which Polley’s movie still does. It’s tender, charming, sexy, funny, and above all, inviting, making it a movie poised to be a returning favorite for someone looking for something unchallenging, yet affecting.
Mikkel Frederiksen 