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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Quirky look at a family in crisis, August 17, 2003
Alan Rudolph has directed some very interesting, though little-known films over the last twenty years... In his latest, The Secret Lives of Dentists, Rudolph mostly succeeds in creating an offbeat comedy-drama about a husband and wife team of dentists. Campbell Scott and Hope Davis play Dave and Dana Hurst, who lead a fairly typical, if hectic upper middle class existence. In addition to being a dentist, Dana is an opera singer. They have three young girls, who take up a large part of their nonworking time. Much of the film, in fact, focuses on the daily challenges of a couple raising children. While this gets tedious at times (there is a twenty or so minute segment where we get to see the whole family throwing up as they suffer from flu), it manages to convey something, obvious as it is, that other movies tend to overlook. Namely, that whatever else may be going on in their lives, children take up a great deal of parents' time and energy. The conventional fabric of Dave's life starts to unravel when two unrelated incidents occur one day. First, he sees his wife in what appears to be a romantic embrace with another man. Secondly, he is harassed in public by an obnoxious disgruntled patient (Denis Leary, who is his usual wise-cracking self). From this point on, the movie turns surreal, as Leary becomes a walking hallucination in Dave's life, dispensing unwanted advice and providing comic relief from the otherwise heavy mood. The transitions between comedy and melodrama are sometimes rather sudden, but both work well in their own way, so the imbalance doesn't hurt the film. As in many of Rudolph's films, Secret Lives of Dentists uses a sharp focus to illuminate the small events in the lives of a few people. Everything takes place over the course of a few days, and not all that much actually happens. We mostly watch Dave's struggle to maintain his sanity while dealing with his conflicted feelings, such as love and anger towards his wife, devotion and impatience with his children. The film is slow paced, so if your movie attention span is short, it may not be for you. Yet I found it to be an original, funny and often touching look at a family trying to keep itself together.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Scenes from a Modern Marriage, February 8, 2004
"The Secret Lives of Dentists" documents a seemingly typical marriage between two dentists, played by Campbell Scott and Hope Davis, who are in joint practice. Their marriage seems ideal, with their successful practice, two homes, and three beautiful children. However, the idyllic appearance of their relationship belies the festering problems brought on by years of neglect and passivity. Director Alan Rudolph is known for highly stylized films that examine the complications of relationships, such as "Choose Me" and "Afterglow." What his works often lacks in realism, he makes up for by eliciting gorgeous performances from his cast. Scott brings great subtlety to his character - a submissive man who refuses to fight for his crumbling marriage. Davis is also excellent, managing to make her character sympathetic despite her actions. Overall, "The Secret Lives of Dentists" is perhaps the best Rudolph film I've seen, and the script and acting is often quite perceptive. However, it ultimately falls flat in several ways. In particular, the film takes an ugly turn with the character played by Denis Leary - a devil's advocate type who attempts to goad Scott into action. The movie really loses traction with every scene in which Leary plays a key role. In addition, the tone of the film is strangely aloof, and I found myself struggling to connect with the characters or become involved emotionally. In sum, the film is an above average and quirky look at modern marriages with some very good acting. Extras - Plenty of extras including an episode from the Sundance Channel's show "Anatomy of a Scene," which dissects the opera scene.
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13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Walter Mitty-Like Suburban Dentist Has the Blues, September 29, 2003
This is one of the more satisfying
films I've seen this year. Its of
the serious comedy genre. Dentists
will be interested but its not particularly
about dentists.
Its about the difficulty of maintaining
intimacy in modern marriage and what that
lack can lead to. Its a re
make of the Thurber/Danny Kaye Secret
Life of Walter Mitty.Campbell Scott and wife Hope Davis
work as partner dentists in suburban New York.
The couple have been married ten years, they
have three daughters. Scott is more sympatico
and caring of the girls than
his wife, and they both know it. A cynical trumpet player patient, Dennis Leary,
criticizes Scott's dental work and browbeats him
publicly into re-fixing his free, though Leary wrecked
the dental work by not following advice. The Spirit of Leary hangs about the House
giving Scott advice on how to deal with his
problems. The children are a constant battle. The
absences of the wife spur suspicion and fearful
fantasy. . Scott begins to fantasize that his wife is secretly
cuckolding him, and he imagines fantasies of what a
a new romantic life of his own would be like. The Couple are chained to their Practice, but even
more chained to the troublesome and irksome children.
There is a five day bout with the flu that puts both
dentists to bed but still waiting on their vomiting
children hand and foot, Scott doing most of the work. The film raises questions about
the tacit but never discussed secrets, shared but never
spoken of, between modern marrieds. Scott, son of actor George C. Scott, is in
the best role of his life. This is
also certainly the best film Robert Altman
disciple Alan Rudolph has ever made. Dennis
Leary is pretty good as the low-life musician with
a pair of Elvis-on-tour aviators, a bad brown
leather jacket, bad hair and other sartorial woes.
He is a cross between the Bogey character in Play
it Again Sam and the Sheldon Leonard character,
Grogan, who used to show up in the foodstore
to criticize and torment poor Jack Benny. The film is a little like American Beauty but more
realistic and less the joke you can't take seriously.
Its good. I had hoped for a better ending. In fact
I could have written one I like better but this one will do.
Despite the ending, and a slight lengthiness, I would
recommend it highly. ...
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