When is a film about romance not so romantic? Perhaps when it is directed by the mistress of malaise Sarah Polley and stars heartbreak heiress Michelle Williams. Following her feature debut Away from Her (2006), which dealt with Alzheimer’s and adultery, Polley’s second film Take this Waltz also examines relationships and the damage that time and tiresomeness with each other can cause. Michelle Williams is Margot, a travel writer, who on a recent assignment meets a handsome young man named Daniel (Luke Kirby); they have a brief flirtation and share a cab ride home together from the airport. This sparkling dalliance is cut short by the omission from Margot that she is married and then is made uncomfortably awkward by the realisation that Daniel is her new neighbour, the ponderous threat that temptation is residing right across the street. Margot returns to husband Lou (Seth Rogen) a lovable, if naively dim, cook book writer but the lingering feeling for something new haunts her and tests whether she will succumb to the desire. Take this Waltz is not an easy film to like, but that is what makes it all the more truthful and raw in its depiction of modern marriage and the unease we feel in life. Polley’s ace in the hole is Michelle Williams, who makes the, on the surface, frustrating Margot (a wife in a safe, comfortable marriage, contemplating adultery) a fully realised human being, a woman with flaws, who cannot feel contentment, something a lot of people cannot admit to themselves. Williams is such an absorbent actress, she can make an audience empathise with her even when she appears selfish and in Margot conveys the sense that she will always be searching for something to fill an unfillable void. This is encompassed in a scene where Margot and Daniel go to an amusement arcade and take a spin on the Scrambler; a ride that takes place in low lights to the sounds of The Bugles video killed the radio star. As they whirl around Margot is lost in a moment of pure bliss, a primitive state of happiness but then the ride stops abruptly, the lights rudely come on and Margot has to face the sombreness of reality again, Williams face capturing the disappointment to perfection.
Sarah Polley’s treatment of the subject matter is handled with great assurance; it does not depict its story with over dramatics, but with the crushing subtlety of internal conflict. There are is no real bad guy in the narrative; we cannot demonise someone who struggles with themselves more than with their relationships. There are however moments were the script falls prey to clunky metaphors, the confession from Margot to Daniel that she uses wheelchairs at airports because she ‘doesn’t like connections’ or the fact that Lou can only write recipes about chicken, his inability to look past the adequate. There is also a deviation in a scene where Daniel describes to Margot what he would do to her sexually, that feels too crude and out of balance with the rest of the film which derails the mood momentarily. But minor missteps aside, Take this Waltz is an honest, touching film with another heartbreaking turn from Williams, it could serve as a Prozac inducing companion piece to Blue Valentine. Credit should also be given to Seth Rogen, who dials down his usual goofiness, proving particularly effective in a scene where he realises his wife’s head has been turned, the camera remains on his face, jump cutting between the many reactions and emotions that come from heartache. Polley’s film leaves us with more questions than it answers, as Margot finds out that perhaps the grass is, literally not always greener. As one female comments in the film ‘new gets old’ and so does the inevitability that you cannot outrun your own malaise. As Margot takes a ride on the Scrambler, this time alone at the end of the film, an air of ambiguity lies, will she ever be content or will she be capable to overcome her fear of ‘connections’?
