The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby

Writer-director Ned Benson captures various aspects of a marital relationship, telling the same New York-set tale from the spouses' different perspectives. Far from Paul McCartney's British spinster, this Eleanor Rigby (Jessica Chastain) is an irrepressibly beautiful woman who adores her husband, Conor Ludlow (James McAvoy). But when tragedy strikes with the death of their baby son, the couple's marriage collapses. While their loss is a devastating blow to both, each responds differently. Conor holds his grief in, taking after his distant father (Ciarán Hinds), while struggling to maintain the restaurant/bar he owns. Eleanor tries to commit suicide, jumping off a bridge; after being rescued, she runs home to her parents (Isabelle Huppert, William Hurt), submerging herself in sadness. Originally presented in two longer parts titled Him and Her (from each character's respective point of view), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby combines the two previous films into an amalgam that can sometimes be more than a bit tedious. Chastain is elegantly brittle yet touching, McAvoy epitomizes melancholy desperation, and both receive solid support from a cast that includes Viola Davis, Jess Weixler, and Bill Hader. But in the final analysis, it just doesn't add up to the sum of its parts. Optional. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include both of the original full-length source feature films Him and Her, and a Q&A with stars Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy (21 min.). Bottom line: a fine extras package for an uneven drama.] (S. Granger)