Frederick Wiseman is such a venerated voice in American filmmaking that I’m shocked more people didn’t dig A Couple as much as I did. (People being critics. Critics are people too!) I wonder if spending so many years as a documentarian has, in the eyes of his patrons, cemented him in that role only, and seeing him step even slightly to the side of that role doesn’t compute for that crowd.
Personally? I liked seeing that shift, especially because A Couple keeps Wiseman in his documentarian mode, but with the added benefit of dramatized flourish. Not that he’s a showy guy. This film is still subtle as hell.
You can read my full review over at Paste Magazine.
A Constant Visual Feast 