LOVE IS STRANGE IS A STRANGE WAY TO CELEBRATE LOVE
When the film begins, artist Ben (played by John Lithgow) and musician George (Alfred Molina) are married in New York City after living together for 39 years. Ben is retired, living on a modest pension. However, George is fired from his position of music teacher at a Catholic school because the local Bishop believes that he has violated his work contract by consummating marriage with a man. But rather than going to court over the matter or mobilizing support to stop the injustice, they conclude that they cannot afford the mortgage on the apartment that they bought less than five years ago, so they must seek another place to live. In the meanwhile, since they are homeless, they move in with their respective friends; in Ben’s case, his relatives. Most of the film then deals with adverse consequences that flow from their sudden addition to families that operate at other levels from the routines to which the older couple have been accustomed. Directed and co-written by Ira Sacks, Love Is Strange (almost a remake of the 1937 film Make Way for Tomorrow) then becomes a noir film, perhaps discouraging same-sex couples from marriage until they assess the full consequences. MH