In this bitter, bracing drama, Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger – both excellent – play Ted and Marion Cole, a wealthy but miserable married couple struggling to survive the death of their young sons years earlier. She has sunk into a near-coma of grief, while he lashes out via repeated infidelities. It’s not a pretty picture, even if writer-director Tod Williams, adapting John Irving’s A Widow for One Year, has crafted an occasionally beautiful film. The Coles live on the East Hampton coast, and the sea’s mist seems to drift through even the indoor scenes. It’s misery manifested. Slight relief comes with the arrival of Eddie (Jon Foster), a young summer intern for Ted, who writes children’s books. When Eddie and Marion embark on their own affair, the liaison flirts with being either the catalyst the Coles need to save their marriage or the end of it.
