Ben (John Lithgow) and George (Alfred Molina) are a long-term older gay couple who marry after nearly four decades of being partners in Love is Strange. Their marriage, however, is not the only turning point in their lives. Although George’s employer, the archdiocese, knew of his sexual orientation and his life partner Ben for 12 years, they find wedding photos posted to Facebook and he is fired.
This tender, poignant story unfolds as they find themselves cash-strapped and homeless. Throughout the movie we experience the uncomfortable tension that unfolds as Ben and George have to live separately from one another with friends and family to survive; Ben with his nephew (Darren E. Burrows), his wife (Marisa Tomei), and their pubescent teenage son (Charlie Tahan), and George with their young, gay, party-every-night cop neighbors (Cheyenne Jackson and Manny Perez).
This is the type of story that needs sharing for multiple reasons: 1) It raises the issue of marriage equality and the fact that you can be discriminated against for being gay; 2) We need truthful, non-stereotypical, loving depictions of gay people in media; 3) The Department of Health & Human Services, Administration on Aging reports “…that the number of older lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals continue to increase…” And what is startling (and not relevant to this movie) is that “many face discrimination based on their age and sexual orientation.” The special needs and issues older LGBT people face will become more prevalent in the coming years.
Lithgow and Molina really get into their characters. It is wonderful that we have A-list actors depicting gay characters. Tomei, as the ardent business woman, shows us both the hard side to her character as well as the vulnerable and loving side as she has to deal with her new housemate.
There was some controversy over the Motion Picture Association of America’s rating of this movie. They rated it R citing language. It appears other countries have given it a less stringent rating. And I don’t see it as an R movie since there is no violence, nudity, or sex. Although they drop the f-bomb a few times there is nothing that would warrant an R rating. This is a simple, homey story about an older gay couple that is struggling after serious life events.
If you didn’t catch Strange Love on the big screen we highly recommend renting it.
