Welcome to The Morning After, where I share with you what movies I’ve seen over the past week. Below, you will find short reviews of those movies along with a star rating. Full length reviews may come at a later date.

So, here is what I watched this past week:

The Bridges of Madison County

You might expect someone like Clint Eastwood to make action movies or fast-paced adventures, but his films seldom fall into that category. The Bridges of Madison County was one of a very small handful of romantic dramas he’s created and his surefooted, pensive, methodical pacing allows the simplistic joys and heartfelt solitude of his subjects breathe.

The story is that of a middle-aged housewife who helps an aging National Geographic photographer locate and photograph a series a bridges in the Madison County area. Almost as quickly as they come together, a romantic bond builds between them and across an unbelievably short span of four days, they fall in love and move closer to running away together than anyone would have thought possible.

Meryl Streep plays the housewife, adopting a delicate Italian accent that blends effortlessly with her personality. She gracefully shifts her performance from happy, uncomplicated housewife to emotionally energized paramour. Her craft has seldom been better displayed and two scenes late in the film, one in the pickup with her husband and another as she escapes all eyes inside her house, are heartbreaking. Eastwood’s performance is fine, but isn’t among his best. His filmmaking capability and the way he presents Richard LaGravanese’s deft adaptation of the Robert James Waller novel are what help the film reach high water marks in the romance genre.