Meryl Streep: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

2. Kay Soames €“ Hope Springs (2012)

It's true that besides being hopelessly sexist and borderline misogynistic (besides racist and a whole bunch of other prejudices reflecting the culture's own issues), Hollywood has a problem with age. Whilst there are plenty of plumb roles for men far into their twilight years, they're often positioned with romantic partners who are a fraction of their age, leaving older actresses without a lot to do. So in a way, Hope Springs should be celebrated for being a film about an older couple, and treating that with a degree of respect and humanity rarely touched upon in a Hollywood production. On the other hand, it's a film where Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones go to Steve Carrell for advice on how to spice up their marriage. It's not a particularly bad film, per se, it's just a hopelessly uninspired one. Julie & Julia appears to be reaching for something, but it's never clear what. Hope Springs doesn't even seem to be attempting that, with Jones getting most of the good lines and even those are few and far between.