Long ago the essayist Montaigne wrote, "The land of marriage has this peculiarity, that strangers are desirous of inhabiting it whilst its natural inhabitants would willingly be banished from it." That's the picture in Miami Rhapsody.
In the opening scene, Gwyn, a wisecracking advertising writer in Miami, is bemoaning her confusion about men, women, commitment, and marriage. It seems that every member of her family is trying to tell her that she shouldn't take the leap with her long-time fiance Matt, a zoologist.
First, her mother Nina reveals that she is having an affair with a handsome Cuban nurse. It has been a way of feeling sexy and getting the attention lacking at home. Then Gwyn learns that her father has had a fling with his travel agent. Why? It was an attempt to stave off his feelings of being old.
Not to be outdone by their parents, Gwyn's brother and sister have come up with their own variations on adultery. Jordan has abandoned his pregnant wife for a voluptuous model, and Leslie has betrayed her husband for a roll in the hay with an old high school flame.
Sarah Jessica Parker is funny and fine in the juicy role of Gwyn, a young woman who realizes that she doesn't have the trust patience, or confidence to move her relationship with Matt into the commitment of marriage. She'd rather focus her energies on a new career as a comedy writer for television. Also appearing with Parker are Mia Farrow, Antonio Banderas, Paul Mazursky, Kevin Pollak, and Carla Gugino.
Through the comic episodes of Miami Rhapsody, writer and director David Frankel reveals how the consumer ethic has diluted traditional views of marriage so that it is held hostage to our desires for new experiences, self-fulfillment, and endless variety. Although some of these couples reassemble their marriages, there is little reason to believe they will not abandon them again for new temptations.