Ed Burns Contends With Age

In the films and television shows he’s made as a writer-director, Edward Burns has never not made things personal, but retaining the same level of creative control that he had on his breakthrough “The Brothers McMullen” has often required working on modest budgets and with younger casts and crews, naturally making the work itself move farther away from who he is now. In a marketplace starved of thoughtful adult dramas, that makes his return to center stage in “Millers in Marriage” a welcome one, as Burns mines territory he’s familiar with after turning 50.

“All I’m looking for is a stable relationship with a woman my own age,” Burns’ character Andy can be heard telling his new girlfriend Renee (Minnie Driver), putting her at ease when she worries he might want kids. They’re at a summer home that Renee got in a divorce, and by the standards of “Millers in Marriage,” he couldn’t have said anything more romantic to her when all people want is comfort.

Andy wasn’t the one who ended his own 15-year marriage recently, but he certainly can be grateful it happened when leaving the tempestuous Tina (Morena Baccarin) meant less stress in his life. And if he wants to be reminded, he needs only get on the phone with his younger sister Eve (Gretchen Mol), whose husband Scott (Patrick Wilson) can go for days at a time without giving her a call from the road as a music manager.

His other sister Maggie (Julianna Margulies) isn’t happy in her marriage either, with her husband Nick (Campbell Scott) down in the dumps since their kids moved away for college, but she’s less inclined to express it unless she can fictionalize it in her work as an author. It turns out all of the Millers have artistic pursuits — or they did, at least. Eve fronted a band until she and Scott got pregnant, and while it’s not central to the story, Burns can offer wry observations on the twists and turns of a career in an area he knows well….