The Story of Us (R) No Rating

The best thing about "The Story of Us" isn't the story. It's the performances of stars Michele Pfeiffer and Bruce Willis, who do their best to overcome what's essentially a formulaic picture about the highs and lows of a marriage. Despite their intentions, and several observant moments, the film eventually suffers from an annoying set-up and an over-earnest sense of humor.

Employing too many hurried flashbacks and quick montages of domestic life, director Rob Reiner attempts to tell a familiar tale. After 15 years of being a couple, writer Ben Jordan (Willis) and his wife Katie (Pfeiffer) are at a critical stand-still. Their marital problems have reached the breaking point, and a separation leading to divorce seems inevitable.

While their two adorable kids spend the season at summer camp, mom and dad use the time to set up different residencies. She gets the house. He moves into a local hotel. Both take turns telling the audience, through direct observations to the camera and off-screen narrative, the reasons they fell in love, and also why some of those same things have caused them to fall out of it.

Reiner sprinkles this history with images of the couple playing cute at the office where they first met, as well as their foreplay on the kitchen counter, birthdays for the kids, arguments by the bedside, deaths of parents, grandparents, goldfish, etc. Many of these individual moments ring true (especially the couple's arguments about his spontaneous behavior vs. her controlled instincts), but the random, constant shuffling of these bits of history make it hard for viewers to connect to any overall sense of relationship.

We see what's happened to these two attractive and appealing characters. But it's impossible to feel much empathy due to the segmented structure, which tries too hard to include a tad of every marriage-related scenario. Mucking up the story further are secondary characters whose comic-relief is neither necessary nor funny.

Among those taking away from the couple's credible development are Rob Reiner as the writer's obnoxious best friend, who tells stories about the non-existence of rear ends; Rita Wilson as his equally obnoxious wife and the source of bad jokes about men's bathroom manners; and Paul Reiser as the agent-buddy who gives lame advice on what's not interesting about personal lives.

Against these odds, Willis and Pfeiffer, both veterans of show-biz marriages, remain affecting as a couple who go through several difficult phases in their relationship. It's easy to tell how their stubborn personalities cause problems over the years, and it's heartbreaking to see, as with real-life relationships, how the pair almost but don't quite connect because of an incomplete understanding of the other's point of view.

Willis, continuing to change gears from "Armageddon" to "The Sixth Sense" to this romantic dramedy, proves he's up to the task of playing a husband who's not afraid to wear his emotions on his sleeves. It's a performance that's all the more interesting due to his real-life parting with spouse Demi Moore during the filmmaking.

Pfeiffer, as luminescent as ever, shines in the more subdued role as a responsible spouse and parent. A tricky scene near the end plays out longer than it needs to, but the actress handles herself with dignity and heartfelt emotion.

Reiner can be applauded for taking a more somber approach to this introspective look at what it takes to live through marriage. He's managed to capture some indelible snapshots of things that everyone and their families can relate to. He's also done it with a professional's sense of style and production, backed by a capable and experienced set of actors and crew. It's just too bad the end result had to be handicapped by a self-conscious form of storytelling.

* MPAA rating: R, for language and brief sexuality.

'The Story of Us'

Michelle Pfeiffer: Katie Jordan

Bruce Willis: Ben Jordan

Rita Wilson: Rachel

Rob Reiner: Stan

Julie Hagerty: Liza

Paul Reiser: Dave

Tim Matheson: Marty

A Castle Rock presentation, released by Universal Pictures. Director Rob Reiner. Producers Rob Reiner, Alan Zweibel, Jessie Nelson. Executive producers Jeffrey Stott, Frank Capra III. Screenplay Alan Zweibel & Jessie Nelson. Cinematographer Michael Chapman. Editors Robert Leighton, Alan Edward Bell. Costumes Shay Cunliffe. Music Eric Clapton, Marc Shaiman. Production design Lilly Kilvert. Art directors Chris Burian-Mohr, Jess Gonchor. Set decorators Sarah Jackson Burt, Kathy Lucas. Running time: 1 hour, 37 minutes.