Search - The Secret Lives Of Dentists on DVD

Jonathan C. (Gamescook) from MORGANTOWN, WV
Reviewed on 1/12/2011...

Am I the only one who thinks the guy (presumably a dentist) is going to do something terrible to the woman he is sneaking up on, something he perhaps regularly does in his... SECRET LIFE?

Secret Lives and Quiet Desperation

Galina | Virginia, USA | 02/26/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

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This film is a gem, quiet and powerful modern masterpiece that deals with the marriage in crisis. Shifting seamlessly from humor to drama, from reality to the imagination and back, the movie is a stylish, compelling and very intelligent work of a sophisticated and remarkable filmmaker. There are not many films that explore the quiet desperation of a family's crisis (or should I say any relationship's crisis) with such honesty, poignancy, and subtlety. Alan Rudolph masterfully explores the mysterious connection between two people, the ability to deal with its possible loss, and the secret longings in all of us.

Campbell Scott is very impressive as an introvert Dr. David Hurst. He does not say much in the film but we feel all emotions he goes through - love, fear to lose it, anger, desperation, depression, and confusion. Hope Davis, Dennis Leary and three young girls all gave great performances.


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An overlooked piece of the marriage puzzle

Markus Youssef | Toronto | 03/04/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This film highlights a clear picture of traditional marriage roles reversed. He plays a codependent "supermom" while she a self absorbed and absent husband. His codependency puts up with the affair hence the appearance of his humourously played alter ego. When he finally speaks up and asks for a confession, the alter ego did his job and hops on a bus, but persumably only for the time being (cavity filled) since nothing is shown that his wife will not simply just have another affair down the road nor does it seem likely that he's ready to face up to the connection between mind and body. He will forgive her and be glad to have her back but their hygiene habits (core maritial problems) remain.
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I wonder why so few have mentioned sacrifice

Trulle Yors | Kalevala | 05/25/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A few of the reviews below are decent, but Amazon's, as usual, passes by everything tender or subtle about a film. In the case of "Lives" what most other viewers seem to have missed is the other side to Hurst's decision not to divorce his wife. He might be a coward, and it's unclear how he intends to maintain the marriage without himself changing in some way. Everyone seems to have gotten this easy part.

But what about love? Trying to understand the characters, is it really so difficult to see that Hurst puts up with his wife's (possible) duplicity OUT OF LOVING HER GREATLY? He wants to be with her and with the children so dearly that he is even ready to forgive the betrayal. The betrayal which proves that he no longer means to his beloved what she still does to him, that he has lost her. Never mind the ancient subject, never mind that adultery is common, statistics says: when love is involved, there are few pains that compare. Yet Hurst endures, sacrificing himself for her sake. Ye viewers, take a moment to appreciate it."