Plot: Alternately tragic and comic, an exploration of the complexities of love in both its brightest and darkest corners. Adapted from John Irving's best-selling novel A Widow for One Year, the film is set in the privileged beach community of East Hampton, New York and chronicles one pivotal summer in the lives of famous children's book author Ted Cole (Jeff Bridges) and his beautiful wife Marion (Kim Basinger). Their once-great marriage has been strained by tragedy. Her resulting despondency and his subsequent infidelities have prevented the couple from confronting a much-needed change in their relationship. Eddie O'Hare, the young man Ted hires to work as his summer assistant, is the couple's unwitting yet willing pawn - and, ultimately, the catalyst in the transformation of their lives.
Alternative Plot: The lives of Ted (Jeff Bridges) and Marion Cole (Kim Basinger) are thrown into disarray when their two adolescent sons die in a car wreck. Marion withdraws from Ted and Ruth (Elle Fanning), the couple's daughter. Ted, a well-known writer, hires as his assistant a student named Eddie (Jon Foster), who looks oddly similar to one of the Coles' dead sons. The couple separate, and Marion begins an affair with Eddie, while Ted has a dalliance with his neighbor Evelyn (Mimi Rogers).
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