After the first half of "The Story of Us," I know how such "Dawson's Creek" detractors must feel. Voice-overs from the two central characters provide all sorts of lyrical, reflective statements like, "I think the loudest silences are the ones filled with everything that's been said." It seems wholly unrealistic, but it's really just "Felicity" dialogue plus twenty years; while middle-aged people might not talk or act this way, they want to, and probably appreciate the becoming depiction. And although Alan Zweibel and Jessie Nelson's script is filled with a lot of "Life's Little Instruction Book"-type witticisms, their tale of a crumbling marriage ultimately succeeds.

"The Story of Us" is an emotionally powerful and poignant film that struggles to identify what's at the core of the most central relationship in our society. It eventually answers its own question, but even if you disagree in principle, it's hard to argue by that point that the answer is the wrong one for this particular situation.

Despite its ultimate strength, the movie isn't very accessible, especially at first. The majority of the first two-thirds just alienates the audience by flaunting the high-society lives that Ben (Bruce Willis, proving that his performance in "The Sixth Sense" wasn't a fluke) and Katie (Michelle Pfeiffer) live. Although Ben is a writer and Katie is a crossword puzzle creator — occupations that could entail solidly middle-class or even poverty-level lifestyles — they're apparently quite well off. In between hanging around their well-appointed suburban home, they drive a Ford Expedition (the camera lingers on the logo) and eat meals at lavish restaurants. Lilly Kilvert's production design is attractive, but it's wholly inappropriate for a film that wants us to become attached to the characters. We're expected to embrace them as our friends and neighbors, but that's hard to do when they're leading such exaggerated lives.

Their respective sidekicks don't help much, either. While Katie and Ben's friends are likely there to provide moments of levity, it comes off as self-absorption and overinflated ego. And it doesn't help that they're mostly unfunny and irrelevant: I don't want to hear Stan (Rob Reiner, whose directing is a lot more appealing than his acting here) joke about his hairy ass, and it's of no consequence who Marty (Paul Reiser, turning obnoxious in his post-"Mad About You" days) jerked off to last night. Their babble is filler that falls on its face trying to be "Seinfeld"-esque, and even Ben and Katie seem to wonder at times why they have such obnoxious friends: during lunch, they seem more like uninvited guests than close confidants.

"The Story Of Us" succeeds because of its stars, who get most of the screen time. (Their kids — the central component in their relationship — are even relegated to an absurdly lengthy summer camp to get them out of the way. And Betty White, Red Buttons, Jayne Meadows, and Tom Poston show up as the in-laws, but only once.) Willis and Pfeiffer both deliver emotionally intense performances that are most believable when they're screaming at each other or crying alone.

Throughout the film, we're transported back in time — usually with a voice-over set-up by Ben or Katie — to experience their history. But the details aren't important; as Katie says at one point, it has been "72 hours, four weeks, five years — depending upon when you start counting" — since their marriage started to fall apart. What's important is their relationship, and while the movie hops schizophrenically around, it manages to develop it sufficiently so that we genuinely care by the time the end arrives.