The Movie House in Millerton hosted a special screening of “The Millers in Marriage,” a film written and directed by Edward Burns. Burns and fellow actors Gretchen Mol, Campbell Scott, Benjamin Bratt and Brian d’Arcy James were in attendance and participated in a question-and-answer panel after the screening. The panel was moderated by Mol’s husband, filmmaker Kip Williams. Audience members got to ask questions of the veteran actors of stage, film, and television.
The film centers around the three Miller siblings; played by Gretchen Mol as Eve, a former “indie rock” singer and song writer; Edward Burns as Andy, a painter; and Juliana Margulies, as Maggie, a writer. All three are over fifty, with the sisters facing empty nests after their children are grown. All three have problems in their marriages and are dealing with the death of their mother the year before.
Kip Williams opened the question-and-answer period by saying to Burns “I can’t think of another film about this moment in life. It’s an original window. Thank you for that.”
Burns said he chose that subject matter for that reason. “There are no films about us,” referring to people of “generation X” now being over fifty. “I am invisible now,” he said. “Our stories have no value now.” It was important to him to make a movie about this stage of life.
Ed Burns, Gretchen Mol, and Benjamin Bratt on the red carpet at The Millerton Movie House on Dec. 21. They were there for a special screening of “Millers in Marriage” which Burns wrote, directed and acted in. All three costarred in the film. Robin Roraback
Mol’s character, Eve, was just becoming successful when she got pregnant and gave up her career to marry her manager and raise their children. Now, she wonders if it is too late to start her career again. When a writer for a magazine — played by Benjamin Bratt — contacts her and reminds her of her past, his character acts as a catalyst for her to begin to think again about her music and her life.
Mol said when she read the script it was like “a conversation I’ve been having with my friends.” She loved about her character that “she changed. She’s still on the journey.”
Kip Williams commented to Mol, “When I look into the eye of the character, I don’t recognize you at all,” describing how completely she had been able to assume her role.
Campbell Scott plays Nick, husband of Margulies’ character. Scott said that as an actor, his challenge in the film was “How unattractive can we make this guy? How whiney? And still keep him human?” Nick is a writer struggling with writer’s block while his wife, also a writer, is finishing another book.
Bratt said of Campbell’s performance, that it was “nuanced” and left him “wondering how he does what he does.” He admitted, “I have a desperately bad actor crush on Campbell Scott.”
Brian d’Arcy James’ character, Dennis, is a caretaker who comes into play when the siblings go to the country for the weekend. The panel said of his character, “He’s an outlier, he lacks some moral structure. He opens things up and creates a problem.”
Moderator Williams commented that the themes of aging, parental death, and surviving as artists were “delicately worked.”
Audience members remarked that the film was “So much fun to watch, great actors.” “Well crafted, melancholy.” “I wanted it to keep going.”
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