Take This Waltz is one of those indies that I kept thinking might have a different sense of pace and was maybe just going to take a bit of breath before it got going, and then it would make the ride worth my time. But sadly, I was wrong. It promises to be a love story, but love is what is missing. Instead there is a lot of weird cutsieness that I guess is supposed to be a good substitute for romance, but ends up being pretty annoying.
It stars Michelle Williams as Margot, a writer married to another writer Lou (Seth Rogan), and she’s unfulfilled by their relationship. On the plane coming home from a writing assignment Margot meets an artist named Daniel, who just happens to live a few doors down from her and hubby. And for the rest of the film they kind of slip slowly into a relationship that gives her what she is lacking in her marriage. And what is she lacking? You can’t really say. She and Lou laugh and play their little silly lovey-dovey games with one another, have parties, and celebrate their anniversary. He seems to care about her, except when she is interrupting his cooking. And he is a cookbook writer, so maybe he has a right to be a bit annoyed. Their life is not perfect, but then who’s is? It is kind of a clichéd premise that a few years into a marriage, the guy who is there starts looking too familiar, so the obvious solution is to ditch him for the more interesting guy down the road.
The biggest problem for me with the whole film though is the lack of chemistry between Margot and Daniel. The scenes with Lou are definitely more interesting. And then there is the subplot of Lou’s sister (Sarah Silverman) and her alcoholism, which doesn’t add anything to the story whatsoever. All the actors are fine, but the script and the direction are simply lacking in any conception of romance or interesting character development. You don’t really like any of these people. And at nearly 2 hours, it is ultimately an unsatisfying experience. I’d say skip this one.