Ben (Lithgow) and George (Molina) are a same sex couple living in New York who get married after spending 39 years together. However, with George being a music teacher in a Catholic school, he is fired after the marriage and now he and Ben must decide what to do since they cannot afford their apartment. Just recently married, they are separated to go into different living quarters, with Ben moving to Brooklyn and George staying with neighbors. In Brooklyn, Ben stays with his nephew and his family, Elliot (played by Darren Burrows), Kate (Marissa Tomei) and their son Joey (Charlie Tahan), all the while George now lives with Roberto (Manny Perez) and Ted (Cheyanne Jackson), a same sex couple who are both police officers.
While faced with the hardship of staying in different parts of the city, the duo try to find time for each other as they try to remain out of the lives of the people they are staying with. At the same time, the people they live with try to pry into their own lives as well.
Director Ira Sachs had previously premiered Keep the Lights On at the 2012 Sundance and Tribeca Film Festivals and was nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards. With Love Is Strange, Sachs provides a detailed situation with the testing of families and friends. It has a unique twist on similar romantic dramas and offers for a thought provoking view on the state of affairs in today’s society.
Watch our interviews with the director as well as Charlie Tahan and Eric Tabach (who plays his friend Vlad in the film) below. The film saw its New York premiere at Tribeca and will open up in theaters on August 22nd.
Ira Sachs:
Charlie Tahan and Eric Tabach:
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