Take This Waltz

Early in "Take This Waltz," the main character is chatting with the man with whom she is considering having an affair.  She says that when she's sad, she can usually figure out why.  But "sometimes, when I'm walking down the street, and a shaft of sunlight falls in a certain way on the pavement, I just want to cry."

Hold up.  Morrissey called and he wants his lyrics back.  What a suffocating line.

But wait a tick--there's something interesting going on here.  Our heroine is saying that sometimes she's sad for no reason.  And her paramour responds that maybe she just hasn't found the reason yet.

That intriguing question is what "Take This Waltz" explores.  And it provides a very thoughtful answer.  Unfortunately, as the above line indicates, sometimes it struggles with the delivery.

The aforementioned heroine meets her possible beau briefly on a trip to Nova Scotia.  Coincidentally, they sit next to each other on their plane ride back to Toronto.  Coincidentally, they happen to live on the same street.  Coincidentally, the three main characters all have lots of free time: the charming stranger pulls a rickshaw (which apparently earns him enough to rent a townhouse), while the wife has a very vaguely defined job in travel writing and the husband is writing a cookbook.

If you want the quirky ideosyncracies and contrivances that can plague indie films, look no further.  The wife has airport staff push her around in a wheelchair because she's afraid of missing her connecting flights--as if waiting on someone to help you would make that less likely.  (Also, symbolism: she doesn't like MISSED CONNECTIONS.)  Her husband's cookbook contains only recipes for chicken.  (More symbolism: HE'S BORING.)

While I can't overlook these missteps, I can forgive them because I admire the movie's larger purpose.  Ultimately, it doesn't really matter what happens in this film: whether the wife cheats, whether she leaves her husband, whether she's forgiven.  The story is just a vehicle for examining how we deal with sadness.  Is it a matter of changing our surroundings?  Or is there just no cure at all?