In 1950s Connecticut, a flustered housewife faces a marital crisis and mounting racial tensions in the outside world.
Cathy is the perfect 50s housewife, living the perfect 50s life: healthy kids, successful husband, social prominence. Then one night she stumbles in on her husband Frank, kissing another man, and her tidy world starts spinning out of control. In her confusion and grief, she finds consolation in the friendship of their African-American gardener, Raymond - a socially taboo relationship that leads to the further disintegration of life as she knew it. Despite Cathy and Frank's struggle to keep their marriage afloat, the reality of his homosexuality and her feelings for Raymond open a painful, if more honest, chapter in their lives.—Jonas A. Reinartz <[email protected]>
Frank and Cathy Whittaker are, as far as the outside world can tell, the perfect couple. Young, attractive and well-off, they represent all that middle-class America is supposed to be in the 1950s. Below the surface however, all is not as it seems. Cathy feels unfulfilled and begins to realize that her marriage is not what it should be. When she discovers her husband making love to a man in his office late one evening, she begins to understand why. She also begins to develop an interest in Raymond Deagan, their African-American gardener. Raymond is intelligent, witty and an art lover. In many ways, Cathy has found a soul-mate. Trying to support her husband as he tries to "cure" his homosexuality and the social taboo of having been seen in public with a black man does not augur well for her however.—garykmcd
In 1957 suburban Connecticut, Cathy Whitaker (Julianne Moore), appears to be the perfect wife, mother, and homemaker. Cathy is married to Frank (Dennis Quaid), a successful executive at Magnatech, a company selling television advertising.Cathy and Frank have 2 kids David (Ryan Ward) and Janice (Lindsay Andretta).
One evening Cathy receives a phone call from the local police who are holding her husband. He says it's all a mix up, but they won't let him leave alone. Cathy is summoned to the station to bail Frank out. It turns out that Frank has been exploring the illicit underground world of gay bars in Hartford.
Cathy is preparing for her annual party for Magnatech employees with her best friend, Eleanor Fine (Patricia Clarkson). Society women including Nancy (Olivia Birkelund) and Doreen (Barbara Garrick) get together with Cathy and Eleanor to discuss the respective sexual frequency with their husbands.Cathy is interviewed by Mrs Leacock (Bette Henritze) of the Weekly Gazette magazine. Cathy and her home are featured by Leacock in the magazine and Leacock praises Cathy for being the perfect wife.
One day, Cathy spies an unknown African American man walking through her yard. He turns out to be Raymond Deagan (Dennis Haysbert), the son of Cathy's late gardener. Raymond had come by to tend the garden and to take over the job of his father. Cathy is very sympathetic and considerate to Raymond. Raymond has a 11-year-old girl named Sarah, and his wife passed away. Raymond has a business degree and has a gardener's tools and service shop.
Frank finds himself forced to stay late at the office, swamped with work. One evening, however, he enters an underground bar filled with single men.One night when Frank is working late, Cathy decides to bring his dinner to him at the office. She walks in on him passionately kissing another man. Cathy runs out of the office, and Frank follows her home. Frank confesses having had "problems" as a young man and agrees to sign up for conversion therapy. This is the 1950s and homosexuality is still considered to be a disease and not a lifestyle choice.Dr Bowman (James Rebhorn) says that the treatment has only a 5-30% rate of success for complete heterosexual conversion. The treatment includes psychiatric sessions, electroshock aversion therapy and hormonal re-balancing therapy. Frank tells Bowman that he is determined to beat his sickness, which he admits makes him feel despicable.Frank's relationship with Cathy is irreparably strained (he yells at Cathy that he wants the whole thing to be over as soon as possible, while she tries to move forward with life as normally as she can), however; and he turns to alcohol.
Meanwhile, Cathy starts becoming better acquainted with Raymond & meets him several times, including at social gatherings in the town. Cathy runs into Raymond at a local art show and, to the consternation of onlookers, initiates a discussion with him about modern painting.
One night, after a party, Frank attempts to make love to Cathy. He is unable to become aroused and strikes Cathy when she tries to console him. Cathy finds herself completely unable to comprehend the destruction of her marriage. As she sees her once-idyllic world begin to fall apart, she turns to Raymond for comfort. He takes her on a ride to his part of the town where she meets other African American people.
The next day, Raymond catches Cathy crying and asks her to run some errands with him. She agrees, and they wind up going to a bar in an African American neighborhood, where Cathy is the only white person present.At a gas station, they are sighted together by one of Cathy's neighbors, who immediately tells everyone. The town is soon ablaze with gossip about the two of them.When Cathy attends her daughter's ballet performance, the mothers of the other girls shun her. Frank also hears about Cathy and Raymond and, in response to his anger, Cathy denies having an other-than-professional relationship with Raymond and says she has fired him to quell the rumors. She then tells Raymond that their friendship cannot continue, as it is not "plausible".
Over Christmas, Cathy goes on a vacation with her husband to Miami to take their minds off of things. At the hotel, Frank has another sexual encounter with a young man. Unable to suppress his desires, he seeks a divorce from Cathy.While they are gone, three white boys taunt and physically assault Raymond's daughter, Sarah (Jordan Puryear), partly because of her father's rumored relationship with Cathy, and the girl is concussed by a rock thrown at her head.
Cathy is later informed by their maid Sybil (Viola Davis) that Raymond's daughter was attacked by three white boys. Cathy then goes to the Deagan home to find them packing up and moving to Baltimore. Raymond says that the rumors have destroyed his business and led his African American neighbors to throw rocks through his windows. When Cathy tells Raymond she is going to be single and asks if she can come visit him some time, he stoically, but gently, rejects her, saying he has learned his lesson and needs to do what is right for his daughter.Cathy shows up at the train station to see Raymond off, and they silently wave to each other as the train leaves the station.
