Show of the week
Director Michael Apted has two dramas currently in release (Enough and Enigma) but he's also a dedicated documentarian. Like Apted's acclaimed 7 Up series, which has studied 14 Britons at regular intervals since the 1960s, Married in America will look at nine couples every 18 months or so over the next 10 years.
The project gets off to a most auspicious start with this three-hour film (premiering in two parts), which introduces the widely diverse couples in optimistic prewedding mode. The childhood friends whose love just kept growing, the battle-scarred blue-collar pair who connected at an AA meeting, the lesbians who combine family values with being "110 percent out"—we like them all and wish them well. But Apted discreetly points out problem areas in each relationship, piquing our anticipation of the next installment.
Bottom Line: Vow to watch
