Hope Springs (2012 film)

Plot[edit]

Although a devoted couple, empty nesters Kay and Arnold Soames are in need of help to reignite the spark in their marriage. Married for thirty-one years, they have slept in separate bedrooms for various pragmatic reasons since their youngest child went off to college, and forgo any physical affection due to him.


One day Kay, a Coldwater Creek employee, tells Arnold, a partner in an Omaha accounting firm, she has paid for them to undergo a week of intense marriage counseling with Dr. Bernie Feld in a coastal resort town in Maine. Arnold, a creature of plodding, unimaginative routine, denies their marriage is in trouble.


In sessions with the psychiatrist, they try to articulate their feelings, revitalize their relationship, and find the spark that caused them to fall in love in the first place. Dr. Feld counsels them, asking increasingly frank questions about their sex life and feelings. Both private and old-fashioned, Arnold is angry and defensive, unwilling to see the depth of his wife's disappointment. Upset, Kay goes alone to a bar where she has several glasses of wine, confides in Karen, the female bartender, and learns that few others are having any sex, either. Arnold visits a nautical museum.


Back together, they spend the night in the same bed for the first time in years, and Kay awakes to find Arnold's arm around her. At this sign of progress, Dr. Feld urges new measures. They make halting attempts at intimacy on the bed of their budget motel and again in a movie theater, but this time with disastrous results.


In a one-on-one session, Dr. Feld explains to Arnold that couples seeking marriage counseling are doing so for a reason, and asks him frankly, "Is this the best you can do?" Arnold finally takes the initiative to arrange a romantic dinner and a night at a luxury inn, where they attempt to make love in front of a fireplace, but the grand gesture ultimately fails. At their final session, Dr. Feld tells them they've made much progress and should take up couples therapy back home.


Back in Omaha, old habits resume. Kay offers to pet-sit for a fellow employee and packs a bag to stay there, as a first step in a permanent break with Arnold. That night, both are shown in bed trying to sleep. Arnold enters Kay's bedroom and they tenderly embrace. The lovemaking that follows is warm, natural, and quietly passionate.


The next morning it's clear that the marriage has shifted into an improved direction. Later that year, as Kay said she fantasized, they renew their wedding vows on a beach with Dr. Feld and their grown children present, making promises to be more understanding and considerate of each other.