These days, love and real estate seem to go hand in hand when it comes to U.S. cinema. Throw in encroaching old age and you have a winning film: an adult love story that many aged city dwellers can truly relate to. Considering that one in four Tokyo residents are older than 65, it's no wonder older people are still flocking to the theaters to see "5 Flights Up," starring septuagenarians Diane Keaton and Morgan Freeman as a couple dealing with housing problems in New York. And now here's "Love is Strange," a grittier and more realistic take on the formula.

Alfred Molina and John Lithgow star as George and Ben, an elderly Manhattan couple who decide to celebrate their more than 40 years of living together by finally — and officially — tying the knot. The very first scenes of "Love is Strange" are a tribute to their many years of companionship. Taking turns in the tiny bathroom of their Manhattan apartment, they seem to fit together like a set of very old cushions on an antiquated sofa. The couple have become so comfortable with each other's presence that even the phrase "taken for granted" needs to be taken out and dusted. After quietly reminding each other that this is the day of their wedding, they go down to hail a cab and join their friends and family in a lovely al fresco ceremony.

Directed by Ira Sachs, whose track record shows a deep fascination with enduring relationships ("Keep the Lights On," "Married Life"), "Love is Strange" tests the limits of George and Ben's marriage almost immediately. George loses his job as a music teacher at a Catholic school for the sin of publicly acknowledging his homosexuality, and Ben, who is retired, can't help financially. No longer able to pay the mortgage, the pair must sell their apartment and seek temporary shelter. No one in their circle of friends has space for the two of them (this is New York, after all), so George crashes on a couch in the apartment downstairs, which is rented by two young cop friends, and Ben moves into the Brooklyn apartment of his nephew Elliot (Darren E. Burrows), his wife Kate (Marisa Tomei) and their teenage son Joey (Charlie Tahan). Here, Ben is allotted the upper tier of Joey's bunk bed, but must make himself scarce when the boy brings his friends around.