"The Sory of Us"

''The Story of Us'' offers such an arthritic vision of middle-aged marriage that it feels like the first Jack Lemmon comedy made expressly for the baby boom generation. Perhaps that would explain the casting of Bruce Willis as a jokey but sensitive suburban Dad and Michelle Pfeiffer as his beleaguered spouse. The stars, variously directed by Rob Reiner to kid around, look wistful or scream so hard that their necks turn red, are not helped by the film's elbow-in-the-ribs humor or its overbearing tactics. Though it sets out to explain why this marriage is worth saving, ''The Story of Us'' could prompt even single members of the audience to file for divorce.
Image result for the story of us reviewThe ''us'' of the title are Katie and Ben Jordan. They have been married long enough to regard concern about the level of windshield wiper fluid in the family station wagon (she's careful, he isn't) as a revealing character trait. They have two young teen-age children and at family meals everybody chimes in and makes a game of listing the high and low points of the day. ''Dinner and dancing'' is Mom and Dad's idea of a great way to spend their anniversary.
If an air of unreality accompanies this, it should. Katie and Ben are actually all but estranged and just keeping up appearances for the children's sake. Then, while the children go to summer camp, the parents separate and have a chance to review all the highs and lows of their life together. This is accomplished with the help of flashbacks involving a criminal set of wigs and hairpieces (never has Mr. Willis's pate been crowned by anything that looks less like human hair) and such kicky memories as the time Ben ran around the kitchen wearing nothing but an apron. The camera is mercifully discreet.
As written by Alan Zweibel and Jessie Nelson, and larded with references to sigmoidoscopy, prostate trouble, orthodontia, tree surgery and the caulking of bathroom tile, ''The Story of Us'' means to illustrate the workaday realities that hold the Jordans together. That would be harmless enough if the film didn't insist on trumpeting its insights at top volume, relying on heavy shtick and turning its characters into clowns. One especially horrible scene finds Katie having lunch with two other wives, played by Julie Hagerty and Rita Wilson, who are eager to talk about how to avoid sex with their husbands. When Ms. Wilson's character suggests that if one husband had behaved better, his wife ''would have sounded the trumpets, opened the gates and welcomed the troops home for Christmas,'' she personifies the film's light touch.
Many of the film's characters sound like aging Catskills comedians. (Tim Matheson, as a dentist and single father, remarks about sending his son to camp: ''Oh, please! The minute my Kevin gets off that bus it's goodbye bite plate!'') Many also play their roles with Mr. Reiner's familiar hand-waving mannerisms, which are funnier when they come straight from him.
The score by Eric Clapton and Marc Shaiman features a light samba that would not be out of place in a Las Vegas lounge act. Sets of married friends imagine one another as Fred and Ethel Mertz. Just when the whole film is at its creakiest, Mr. Willis and Ms. Pfeiffer are joined in one scene by Tom Poston, Jayne Meadows, Betty White and Red Buttons as their parents. (The latter two sing ''Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree With Anyone Else but Me.'') Not even in this company do Ben and Katie seem young at heart. 
''The Story of Us'' is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It includes mild profanity and a shot of Mr. Willis's bare posterior.

THE STORY OF US

Directed by Rob Reiner; written by Alan Zweibel and Jessie Nelson; director of photography, Michael Chapman; edited by Robert Leighton; music by Eric Clapton and Marc Shaiman; production designer, Lilly Kilvert; produced by Mr. Reiner, Ms. Nelson and Mr. Zweibel; released by Universal Pictures. Running time: 90 minutes. This film is rated R.

WITH: Bruce Willis (Ben Jordan), Michelle Pfeiffer (Katie Jordan), Colleen Rennison (Erin at 10), Jake Sandvig (Josh at 12), Casey Boersma (Josh at 2), Tim Matheson (Marty), Rob Reiner (Stan), Julie Hagerty (Liza) and Rita Wilson (Rachel). 

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