Tune into the television or radio “sexperts” or read what they have to say in your favorite magazine, and they’ll warn of the inherent dangers of complacency and/or boredom often found in long term relationships. Granted, the advice proscribed in “Cosmopolitan” might be different from that found in, say, “Maxim,” but the very fact that the notorious “Seven Year Itch” has become such an accepted cliche lends some credence to its existence.
Not that you would get much of an argument from Phil (David Aaron Baker) or his wife Anna (Mary McCormack) about this, either. Young, attractive and upwardly mobile in that vaguely smug Manhattan sort of way, Phil and Anna have grown so distant from one another that merely being in the same room together has become painfully awkward for both of them. Nor do they have much of a support system around them to lean on. Anna alternately seeks the advice of her clock-watching, money-sucking shrink, Dr. Grover (Stockard Channing), or her slightly “off” brother, Jeff (Rob Morrow), whose nervous tics and unprovoked fits of rage quickly peg him as a useless source of comfort and counsel.
Phil has even less luck, turning to John (Campbell Scott), his best buddy in a shallow frat-boy sense, for suggestions. When Phil discloses that he’s been guilty of an indiscretion in his relationship and suspects that Anna might be as well, John’s smarmy wheels grind into alcohol-lubed action. He might be an annoying smart-assed, motor-mouthed cynic, but at least he has a plan: John introduces Phil to smooth-talking private detective, Lou Jordan (Peter Gallagher). Jordan, however, isn’t the sort of private dick who’ll merely dig up the dirt on Anna. As part of his hefty fee, Jordan’s well-honed tactics include the fine art of intimidation, designed specifically to scare the wayward spouse back into the arms of his or her mate. Needless to say, with both parties straying, things don’t exactly work out as planned.
Director Dan McCormack’s “Other Voices” could easily have played it straight, either as a black comedy or a sexy drama. Instead, he mixed the layers, disguising the comic elements in the trappings of a brooding thriller. Adding to the tension is the film’s oppressive urban atmosphere, an environment in which ever-growing mountains of uncollected trash surround characters who are constantly straining to hear each other over sirens, squealing tires, and car crashes. Despite the oil and water genre mixing and the unnerving aural and visual elements, “Other Voices” works for the most part, even if the viewer comes away with the vague sense that the film cheated somewhere on the way to its not entirely unexpected “surprise ending.”
“Other Voices” is a brave, if uneven, demonstration of how opposites attract. And while the sexperts may advise couples to spice up their moribund relationship by taking advantage of that fact, “Other Voices” also serves as a cautionary reminder that open and honest communication is probably a better way to go.
