DVD The Secret Lives of Dentists

Campbell Scott and wife Hope Davis
work as partner dentists in suburban New York.
The couple have been married ten years, they
have three daughters. Scott is more sympatico
and caring of the girls than
his wife, and they both know it.

A cynical trumpet player patient, Dennis Leary,
criticizes Scott's dental work and browbeats him
publicly into re-fixing his free, though Leary wrecked
the dental work by not following advice.

The Spirit of Leary hangs about the House
giving Scott advice on how to deal with his
problems. The children are a constant battle. The
absences of the wife spur suspicion and fearful
fantasy. .

Scott begins to fantasize that his wife is secretly
cuckolding him, and he imagines fantasies of what a
a new romantic life of his own would be like.

The Couple are chained to their Practice, but even
more chained to the troublesome and irksome children.
There is a five day bout with the flu that puts both
dentists to bed but still waiting on their vomiting
children hand and foot, Scott doing most of the work.

The film raises questions about
the tacit but never discussed secrets, shared but never
spoken of, between modern marrieds.

Scott, son of actor George C. Scott, is in
the best role of his life. This is
also certainly the best film Robert Altman
disciple Alan Rudolph has ever made. Dennis
Leary is pretty good as the low-life musician with
a pair of Elvis-on-tour aviators, a bad brown
leather jacket, bad hair and other sartorial woes.
He is a cross between the Bogey character in Play
it Again Sam and the Sheldon Leonard character,
Grogan, who used to show up in the foodstore
to criticize and torment poor Jack Benny.

The film is a little like American Beauty but more
realistic and less the joke you can't take seriously.
Its good. I had hoped for a better ending. In fact
I could have written one I like better but this one will do.
Despite the ending, and a slight lengthiness, I would
recommend it highly.

...

So, anyways, I will say that to me, this movie was fairly depressing. It moved fairly slow, but it fit the film, and it went by pretty fast. I felt the relationship between Dave and Dana was handled really well. And the performances by Campbell Scott and Hope Davis were wonderful. All the acting in the film was great, I especially like Denis Leary in this movie, and generally I dislike him(A LOT), but he's PERFECT for the role he plays here.!

I just like watching what Dave is going through, it just seems what I'd be thinking if my husband were cheating on me. Or some-what like thoughts I've had about people hating me. Its fun watching him play-out scenarios in his mind as well.

I mean generally the main problem with marriages and many relationships is lack of communication. That's especially true in this film, they've gotten so wrapped up in they're day-to-day lives they don't have very much real communication. When one of them tries to communicate the other isn't in the mood to listen. And of course their's the whole affair thing with his wife, so she is generally unreceptive of his attempts at affection and communication.

The only thing I dislike about the movie is just how unsympathetic it is. But it makes sense, because if you're cheating on somewhat you're not really thinking much about their feelings, or if you are, you block it out. Oh well, overall I'd say this is worth a view for people who want an honest look at marriage. It makes you realize just how much work a marriage takes. :)

God Bless ~Amy

If you want to see a great film that stars Hope Davis, watch About Schmidt. It's also a slow-paced film that deals with ordinary, everday subject matter; however, unlike The Secret Lives of Dentists, About Schmidt is moving and thoughtful and will linger in your mind for days after you watch it.