Films produced under the Merchant/Ivory banner are, as a general rule, respectable, literate, and often more than a little bit dull. But here's an exception (to the last rule, at least): an intimate, snapshot diary of an ordinary, middle-class, mid-American couple, played by the off-screen couple of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Ruth Jhabvala's sensitive adaptation of the twin novels by Evan Connell is highlighted by her customary wit and attention to detail, with Newman and Woodward improving on the title roles by adding in their performances subtle shades of character which can't be written into any script. The episodic, slice-of-life structure doesn't allow for any dramatic momentum, and there isn't much of a message beyond the observation that native mid-westerners are emotionally repressed, but under James Ivory's typically graceful direction (and with the help of a first-rate supporting cast) it's an uncommonly rich film, full of privileged moments.

India and Walter Bridge (Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman) are a conservative, middle-age, upper middle class couple who live in a perfect, mid-western neighborhood with a black housemaid, Harriet, an eagle scout son (Sean Leonard),and two college-age daughters, one who wants to marry a plumber's son instead of finish college, and the other who wants to make it in arts and literature in New York (Kiera Sedgewick). Their values are solid, their views are typical of the period, and appropriate for the kind of existence that was typical American fairy tale 30s society.

Learning of sex from a manual, Mrs. Bridges is uneasy to have to explain the facts of life to her son, her daughter on her wedding day, and probably, Mr. Bridge, who loves his wife but can not express his love in that old fashion stoic male way. Mr. Bridge is forthright, honorable, and would never think his actions are anything but above board. He simply never considers there is any other world than the ordered one made of his values, opinions, and standards of propriety. He would never consider his daughter would have an abortion, or even that she would engage in sex outside marriage, nor that his faithful secretary, Julia have a personal life and feelings for him after 20 years of employment.

Mrs. Bridge is a housewife, not homemaker, a house wife. Her entire world revolves around the Betty Crocker inspired recipes cooked from scratch for her husband, and served when he walks through the door. She is delighted to see her spouse arrive home every night, is too cheery and inquisitive about her son's new lower class girlfriend, "Paquita," and has never given deep thought a seconds worry. She lives by rules set down for women by her husband. Even when he is trying to explain to her the value of stocks he has laid aside for her future "contingent" on his death, she is girlishly distracted with a small pocket watch that recalls their courting days sitting on the veranda, and verses he too remembers he'd recited to her then. She is grateful for all her husband has given her. He is respectful of her love and devotion.

Contrasted with Mrs. Bridges is her close friend Grace (Blythe Danner),a nervous, high spirited and unconventional woman who fights with the hypocrisy of their existence and is a banker's wife. Loud, drinking too much, and setting fire to a car at a party, suicidal Grace is at odds with rigid expectations of her class and society. Slowly loosing her grip she spirals downward which mystifies India who is unable to fathom why she is so dissatisfied and tormented. To Walter, Grace was a critical woman and is condemned as unfit. Her suicide is damaging to her husband in his eyes, and thus, she is worthy of his scorn. To Walter she was unsuitable, but for India, she was beloved and a troubled best friend.

A wonderful story of changing social values, and a family in transition, Mr. and Mrs. Bridge is an opportunity to showcase the fantastic performances of the senior citizen, Paul and Joanne Newman, thespians whose early years were as glamorous as Brad and Anglelina today. They are excellent in the roles of individuals likely the age of their own parents, and they present their characters as both sympathetic and tragic. Unable to comprehend the situation of her own dependency, India Bridges is trapped in her own marriage, unable to counsel her own headstrong daughter whose marriage is failing, she is shocked to learn she is seen as a failure by her children. Character, morals, and proper introductions have no place in their 40s WWII era, yet India is never aware how old fashion her ideas have become to her children's lives.

"Mr. and Mrs. Bridge," directed by James Ivory, from 1990, is the story of one American family that represents many of that era, showing them in the period of 1937 until just after the war.

The Bridge family is upper middle class. Walter and India (Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward) have three children: the aspiring actress Ruth (Kyra Sedgwick, so young you can't believe it); Carolyn (Margaret Welsh),and Douglas (Robert Sean Leonard, another baby face). Walter Bridge is a conservative man, one who can't and doesn't show his feelings, an excellent businessman, by the book, and seen today, very old-fashioned, almost Victorian in his attitudes. He loves and respects his wife. India is a sweet, naive woman who doesn't know much of the world, but is exposed to it through her high-strung, independent-thinking friend (Blythe Danner) and her art classes. India takes her husband's opinions and does what he wants. The few times she puts forth other ideas, she is shot down and accepts what he says.

When it comes to their children, both of them are out of it. Walter is a fair man, and when Ruth wants to go to New York, he allows it under certain conditions; when Carolyn wants to marry someone beneath their class, he hears the young man out and gives his blessing; and when Douglas wants to join the Air Force, he counsels his son to stick with his education until he's drafted.

This doesn't mean that Walter and India know anything about their children's' private lives or the sex they're having. Walter is far too rigid to consider such a thing, and India is too naive.

This is certainly a picture of a different time, where the older generation didn't give their emotions much play, when women went to lunch, took art classes, and everything they did revolved around their husbands, and when the man's word was law. Yet we can see the beginnings of change around the edges in their children's' lives of what's coming.

The acting is marvelous, particularly from Paul Newman, who at 65 was still gloriously handsome; and from Blythe Danner, who belonged, perhaps, in a bigger city than Kansas City and among a more liberal crowd. I see where Joanne Woodward's performance has been criticized here; some of it, I gather, was because of her age and also because the character says some things considered out of character as compared to the books on which the film is based. Still, she has the sweetness, the caring, and displays the narrow thought of the character.

If the film is slow, it's because of the time period in which the film is set. You sat in the living room in the evening and listened to Nelson Eddy on the radio; you went to see A Star is Born with Janet Gaynor and Frederic March; it was a more leisurely life and a quieter one. Interestingly, it was a time period in which great self-analysis and deep thought could have emerged, but it wouldn't be until after the war that psychiatry (compared to astrology by Walter),women in the workplace, and changes in morality came into vogue.

Today we live so differently - it wasn't all it was cracked up to be back then, and life today sure isn't all it's cracked up to be now. A film like this does make one long for just a few of the old ways in terms of lifestyle perhaps - the simplicity, the sense of family, but in its repression and views of women, no way.