Genre: Drama
Director: Sam Mendes
Writer: John Malone
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Amy Adams, Ben Affleck, Kate Winslet, Jason Bateman, Joey King, Jaeden Lieberher, Taylor Kitsch, Rachel Brosnahan, Noah Schnapp, Rowan Blanchard
Plot:
Spring, 1976.
Ted Darvill (Ben Affleck), Delta Air Lines pilot, brings his flight in for a landing at Detroit Metro Airport. Ted invites a young stewardess home with him. While Ted and the stewardess have sex, Ted's wife Tammy (Amy Adams) asks if either of them need a beverage. Tammy then watches out the window as their new neighbors in suburban Detroit, Sara (Reese Witherspoon) and Brian Morrison (Owen Wilson), pick up their keys from the realtor. After the stewardess leaves, Tammy asks Ted to bring home women in their own age bracket for a while. He agrees and they make out.
Sara goes grocery shopping with her best friend and next door neighbor Jessica Tally (Kate Winslet), who is upset about about Sara moving further away, even if it is less than a mile away. Lexi Morrison (Joey King), Sara and Brian's 17-year-old daughter, finishes an exam at school before spring break. She attempts to flirt with her teacher, Dan Starks (Taylor Kitsch), when she turns in her test. Billy Morrison (Jaeden Lieberher) and his friend Robert Tally (Noah Schnapp) are in Robert's bedroom looking at a porn magazine. Robert's father, Rick (Jason Bateman), comes in and sees the magazine. He cautions the boys to be more careful so that Jessica doesn't catch them.
Sammy Kearney (Rowan Blanchard) breaks into the house next door, the Morrisons' new house. She hears a noise and realizes the new neighbors have entered the house. Brian carries Sara across the threshold. They are about to have sex when the doorbell rings. They answer the door to find Ted and Tammy Darvill with a bottle of champagne. Sara tells them they don't have any glasses in the house yet. Tammy suggests that they can bring the bottle over to their house the next evening for a party they are holding.
At the old house, Sara has finished packing and walks through the house one last time and cries. At the new house, Billy explores his new room and finds some of Sammy's things in his closet. Jessica calls and asks if Sara has any plans, Sara tells her she's just going to unpack. After hanging up, Sara complains to Brian about Jessica acting too clingy. Brian suggests they go to Ted and Tammy's party.
At the beach with her friends, Lexi runs into her teacher Dan. She asks how she did on her exam, but he simply suggests that next time she put a little more of herself in her work. Dan can't help but watch as Lexi strips down to her bikini and runs into the lake.
Sara and Brian are getting ready to go over to the Darvill's party when the doorbell rings. It's Jessica and Rick who have come over after Sara told Jessica they didn't have any plans. Brian tells them they were just on their way out to have a drink at the new neighbors' house, Jessica gets upset. Sara suggests that they tag along. Rick begins to decline, but Jessica interrupts him and accepts the invitation. The two couples go to the party where Tammy offer a tour to the ladies, but Jessica declines, opting to stay with her husband. On the tour, they find another neighbor snorting cocaine. Tammy then reveals to Sara that she and Ted have an open marriage, and explains that it's not cheating if it's all out in the open. Tammy then offers Sara a Quaalude. Jessica gets mad at Brian for taking a hit of marijuana that is offered to him and goes to find Sara. Jessica runs into Tammy who says that maybe Sara is in the basement. When Jessica enters the basement, she finds several of the party guests having group sex. Jessica runs off. She approaches Sara and Brian and informs them that their neighbors are sick and asks them if they are going to leave with her and Rick. Brian tells her that he and Sara are going to stay. Billy comes home from going to the movies with Robert to find Sammy in his bedroom looking for a necklace she lost when breaking into their house. She finds it and leaves, riding her bike away.
Tammy and Ted sit with Brian and Sara in their living room. Ted begins rubbing Sara's shoulders, while Tammy clasps hands with Sara and they lay their hand on top of Brian's hand. Tammy suggest the four of them go someplace quieter. Ted and Tammy walk toward the bedroom holding hands. Brian and Sara look at each other and then follow them into the bedroom. The four then proceed to have group sex together. The next morning, Brian is getting ready for his day as he and Sara are not "swingers" and agree that their sexual experience with the Darvills was a one time thing.
Ted is called by his boss with the airline to set up a meeting. He and Tammy discuss what it could possibly be about, figuring that Ted may be getting a promotion to fly the airline's new direct flight to Paris. Ted enters his boss' office, where he is informed that the stewardess he picked up the other day has been blabbing to the other stewardesses that Ted and his wife are swingers. Just when he is sure he's going to be fired, he is given a promotion with the Paris job.
Tammy stops by and asks Sara if she wants to run errands together that day. They go to the grocery store, where they run into Jessica, who is visibly upset to see Sara spending time with Tammy, telling Sara that their bridge night is off. Later, Tammy and Sara discuss their encounter with Jessica at the grocery store. Tammy apologizes for seemingly having scared Jessica off.
Billy finds a letter in his room from Sammy with a map to her location and asking for camping equipment. Billy enlists Robert's help him bring camping equipment he purchased to Sammy. Robert berates Billy for wasting three months of allowance on a girl he barely knows. When they arrive, Sammy is furious that Billy brought along. She takes the equipment and tells them to get lost. That night Billy returns to bring Sammy some dinner. She tells him that her dad left for Vietnam and never came back.
On Sunday morning, during breakfast Sara announces that they are going to go to church for the first time in years. Lexi and Billy are taken aback by this as they both had plans for the day. At church, the Morrisons run into the Tallys and Sara tries to talk to Jessica. When Jessica brushes her off, Sara asks her to help with a housewarming party.
The Morrisons attend a pool party at the Darvills. Tammy asks Brian how they are liking the new neighborhood. Sara becomes upset at seeing Brian talking to Tammy. Later, Sara stresses the point that sex has consequences and that seeing Brian talking to Tammy was not easier for her and now she is worried that Brian may want to be with other women. Brian assures Sara that she is the only one that he wants to be with. Ted and Tammy talk about Sara and discuss their first time swinging several years prior. Tammy tells Ted that she doesn't think they'll be interested in swinging again, but Ted simply things they need a friendly nudge to see if they want to do it again.
Billy sees Sammy trying to fix her bike and helps her. He invites her to his family's housewarming party. Meanwhile, Lexi runs into her teacher Dan at the library where she learns he will be there all weekend working on a book drive. Before the housewarming party, Ted and Tammy come over and bring a fondue set and give the Morrisons a home video camera as a housewarming present. Lexi heads back to the library to help Dan gather books. They look over some books and Dan recites a James Joyce love letter to Lexi and they start to quote a Bob Dylan song. They later listen to the song and Lexi kisses him.
The party gets underway and Jessica and Tammy start arguing about when food should be served, much to Sara's annoyance. Tammy tells Brian that if he wants to reassure Sara that he needs to make her feel like she is one of a kind. Tammy then gives Brian a friendly kiss that Rick sees. Brian tries to explain things to Rick and tells him about the night with the Darvills. Rick gathers Jessica and they leave the party. After the party, Brian turns on the video camera and proceeds to go down on Sara.
At school, Dan asks if he can talk to Lexi about what happened later that evening. She says to stop by her house at 8 since he parents will be out to eat with friends. Dan shows up and finds that a dressed-up Lexi has prepared a romantic dinner for the two of them. He apologizes to her for their kiss and if he has led her on at all and that he can't do anything with her since he is her teacher. She acts like it doesn't bother her, but she cries as soon as he leaves and throws the food in the trash.
In a Paris hotel, Ted is in the hotel bar quietly drinking when a bunch of other airline crew members show up. He excuses himself to the restroom where he does a few bumps of cocaine.
Brian is in a bar after work with some co-workers. One of them, Marcia (Rachel Brosnahan), thanks him for helping show her the ropes. She offers to buy him a drink. While she is getting drinks, Brian's other co-workers reveal that they have a bet on who will be the first person in the office to sleep with Marcia. Brian is surprised to discover that he's the odds-on favorite at two-to-one.
Jessica wants to join the local country club, but Rick tells her they can't afford it. She pressures him into asking for a raise or promotion at his job at an insurance company. Rick heads into his boss' office and lays out his case. His boss tells Rick that he's actually been asked to pare back staff and lays Rick off.
At the end of the school year, Dan is at the school late cleaning out his classroom since he has decided to take a job at a school across town. Lexi lets herself into the building and finds him in the room. He is surprised to see her. Lexi reminds him that he is no longer her teacher and passionately pounces on him. She helps him pack up his classroom, with many make-out breaks.
At work, Brian hears that his boss slept with Marcia and decides to tell her about it. She reveals that she knew about the bet and agreed to let their boss tell everyone he slept with her if he split the pot with her. She then offers Brian his money back, but he informs her that he never placed a bet.
Rick, having not told Jessica that he lost his job, takes the train into the city each morning anyways. Jessica gets a call from her bank informing her that a check she wrote at the grocery store has bounced because Rick did not deposit a check as per usual. Jessica heads into the city to go see Rick at work to find out why he didn't deposit his paycheck. When she gets into the building she is told that Rick was let go several days prior.
Ted's new work schedule has him away from home far more than usual which is leading to tension between him and Tammy. They both have become jealous and possessive of the other. While in Paris, Ted sleeps with one of the stewardesses, even though he had promised Tammy that he wouldn't do anything with anyone without clearing it with her first. While he is refilling the ice bucket in the hotel hall, the hotel phone rings and the stewardess picks up - it's Tammy. When Ted gets home from Paris, Tammy tells him that she needs their marriage to be closed for now until she can trust him again.
After work, Brian and Marcia are having drinks. She comes onto him, but he reminds her that he is married. Marcia then tells Brian that she has an apartment around the corner. She kisses him and he kisses back, and they make out in a back booth at the bar.
Rick returns home where Jessica reveals that she knows he lost his job. She's hurt that he didn't tell her. He tells her that he doesn't want to sell insurance again. Jessica is surprisingly understanding. When he wakes up the next morning, Jessica has made him breakfast - as well as having circled a bunch of want ads in the newspaper.
Sara and Brian tell Lexi they are going to be out late, so Lexi invites Dan over to watch old movies on TV. While they're watching Double Indemnity, her parents come back in through the front door. Lexi panics and has Dan hide behind the bar in the den. Brian then starts heading toward the bar to make a drink, but Sara suggests they have wine instead. Lexi starts trying to sneak Dan out of the house, but they are caught by Brian. While arguing that she shouldn't be grounded, Lexi accidentally lets it slip that Dan is her former teacher. She yells that she can't be grounded because she and Dan have tickets to a Jackson Browne concert. Meanwhile, Sam and Billy have been watching the loud argument from the neighbor's roof.
Ted and Tammy are dealing with monogamy by involving elaborate role-playing. Tammy dresses up in a French maid outfit while Ted records it.
Sara finds out Dan's phone number from the operator and demands that he meet with her and Brian at a local diner. They bring Lexi along and the four of them sit down to talk. Brian demands to know why Dan isn't with someone his own age. While Brian and Lexi argue about the situation, Sara and Dan both try to discuss the matter more reasonably. Dan tells them that he had qualms with dating someone as young as Lexi, but that ultimately realized that she's capable of making her own choices. Sara understands, but Brian is still furious. Even though Brian is not happy with the situation, they agree to let Lexi go to the concert with Dan.
To help out with the family finances, Jessica gets a job in a typing pool at a newspaper office where she quickly impresses the higher ups to the point that they want her to write an advice column. Rick finally gets an interview for a job he finds interesting: safety inspector for a construction company. Rick is offered the job, but there's a catch: the job is in Cincinnati. Both Jessica and Rick don't tell each other about their respective employment opportunities.
Unsure of who to confide in, Tammy reveals to Jessica that she's pregnant and doesn't know what to do. Jessica is thrilled, but Tammy is afraid to tell Ted since she isn't sure how he'll react. When Jessica gets home, Rick reveals that he got the job, but that they'd have to move to Cincinnati. At work, Jessica is officially offered the advice column, but she turns it down - telling the newspaper bosses that her family comes first. Back at home, Jessica begins having second thoughts about moving to Cincinnati for Rick's new job. They get into get into a huge fight where Jessica reveals that she was offered the new advice column for the newspaper.
Lexi heads over to Dan's apartment, only to find him packing a bag. He tells her that his friend was injured in an earthquake in Guatemala City and that he is going to down there to help out. Lexi insists on coming along. He tells her to talk to her parents and that she will need a birth certificate to travel.
Tammy finally tells Ted that she's pregnant, but says that she knows that it wasn't part of the plan and knows what she needs to do. Ted tells her no, and they embrace.
Jessica gets a phone call from her boss at the newspaper. He tells her that they would like her to reconsider her decision and to check today's newspaper. She looks inside and sees the column she wrote. She starts crying. When Rick gets home, she finally tells him that she was offered a column in the newspaper. They get into a huge fight. Rick packs a suitcase and leaves.
Laurie packs a bag and leaves to meet up with Dan, but she is stopped by Sara who wants to know where she's off to. Laurie tells her that she is off to meet Dan. When Laurie gets back to Dan's apartment she discovers that he has already left without her.
On July 4th, 1976, the nation's bi-centennial, the Darvills throw a barbeque. Ted and Tammy are holding court inside, telling everyone how excited they are to be having a baby. Jessica is helping out with the party, trying to act strong since Roger has left to Cincinnati for his new job while she has stayed in Michigan for hers. Billy and Sammy kiss under the light from fireworks. Bruce and Sara look at each other...
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