Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones portray a couple who have been married for 31 years. Hope Springs is the new drama from David Frankel who directed "The Devil Wears Prada".
Kay and Arnold have hit a dry spell after they lose the spark in their marriage. Kay decides to enroll the couple in a week long intensive couples therapy sessions in the small town of Great Hope Springs.
The pair have a struggle to overcome the problems in their relationship and failed attempts to re-ignite their sex life.
"I think audiences will recognize these people." Meryl Streep said to Entertainment Tonight at the NY premiere. "They may recognize themselves in some parts of this marriage; they may recognize their brother-in-law; they might look at it apart from their own life."
Here are 5 things you will learn from watching Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones in Hope Springs.
1. Marriage Counseling Can Work
There is humor in the counseling scenes. Steve Carrell portrays a counselor who helps the couple to overcome their intimacy problems. Marriage counseling can be useful in saving a problematic relationship.
Dr. Susan Heitler gives advice on choosing a therapist. "A great couples counselor will leave both spouses feeling happier and closer after just about every session, and they will have the sense that they’ve learned something lasting. If you don't feel good right after the session -- try someone else. [via]
2. Older people have sexual fantasies.
Kay and Arnold reveal some of their sexual fantasies during their therapy sessions. Tommy Lee Jones' character admits that he has a menage a trios fantasy about a neighbor. While Meryl Streep's character tries to act out a dream to have public sex. According to AARP older men and women still have sexual desires.
In the recent AARP Sex, Romance, and Relationships survey, we found out that 25 percent of you have sexy thoughts or erotic dreams at least once a day, with 16 percent having them more than once a day. Men are more than five times as likely as women to say they have such thoughts. For example, 45 percent of men and just 8 percent of women say they have erotic thoughts once or more each day. Many sex researchers have noted the fantasy gap and wondered why it exists. [via]
3. Sex Tips for Straight Women from a Gay Man is a real book.
The book that is depicted in the movie really exists! Some examples of the explicit chapter titles included in the book are a "Penis Primer" with sub chapters called "Growers and Show-"ers, "The ABCs of Erections" and "Penis Names".
Here is a description of the book.
Since primitive times, women have gazed over campfires, fumbled out of their bearskins and wondered how to best please their tool-wielding mates. Grunting males have offered little help or guidance for their eager-to-learn companions, instead occupying themselves with chest thumping, sports on cable and other testosterone-driven posturing.
It took eons of Darwinian development for women to realize that the answers to their many questions were as close as the nearest telephone. Who better to unveil the mysteries of the he-man psyche that a woman's best friend, the master of clever and refined thinking, the gay man? He knows exactly when, where and how to elicit that ultimate ooh-ooh, because he knows all too well what he wants.
Enter Dan Anderson and Maggie Berman, whose biologically determined friendship transcends the battle of the sexes, freeing them to dish and compare notes. Their guide to male pleasure, Sex Tips for Straight Women from a Gay Man, is the culmination of their intensive lifelong survey on the subject. Two fearless and dedicated scholars, Dan and Maggie bucked the system, at times even descending into the trenches themselves. Now the wisdom gained from the years of devoted scholarship can finally be divulged.
The book is available for purchase on Amazon.
4. Mature men and women still have oral sex.
Meryl Streep's character practiced her bj technique by using bananas. We found some NSFW clips of sex therapist Sue Johanson explaining how to give a proper blowjob while demonstrating with an adult toy.
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With typical bluntness Sue Johanson tells older men and women to get over body image: the ''turkey neck,'' the ''wear and tear,'' the hormonal deficiencies. But in her cheerful, no-nonsense style she adds that there are creams, patches and pills to help them, and if all else fails, that they can always kiss and cuddle.
''You can still have a great deal of fun,'' she said recently in a rare speech before a United States audience, a group of sex-toy saleswomen at a conference in Las Vegas.
Ms. Johanson, who won't reveal her age but looks like a 70-something grandmother who knits and makes sourdough biscuits (she does both), is having a lot of fun herself just talking about sex.
A registered nurse from Toronto, Ms. Johanson became known as a sex educator on Canadian radio and television before the Oxygen Network began an American version of her live call-in show in 2002. [via]
5. Tommy Lee Jones is cast as the romantic lead who can be described as the "Channing Tatum" for seniors.
Kay admits during therapy that all of her sexual fantasies involve her grumpy husband. She reveals that all she needs to do is think about him and she gets turned on. According to the movie, Tommy Lee Jones must be considered a new sex symbol and a human form of female viagra. We could understand the intense attraction by thinking that Meryl Streep must be using a mental technique to see Jones like we see Channing Tatum in "Magic Mike."
We enjoyed the romantic comedy starring the two Oscar winners as a couple. Romantic comedies are usually aimed at a younger audience so it was interesting to watch a marriage involving people who are faced with empty nest syndrome.
HOPE SPRINGS - Official Trailer - In Theaters 8/8
Hope Springs is now playing in theaters.
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