this is what audiences need to see more of. Good characterization, realistic dialog (no slap-stick cheap tricks, farce etc.) and capable actors.
I have seen "Friends With Money" which was a disappointment compared to this and "Lovely and Amazing". This film succeeds because we care about the characters, Anne Heche as the therapist, trying to control her wedding, Catherine Keener as confused and disappointed single again friend. Andrew and Laura (Schreiber and Keener), Frank and Amelia,(Ann Heche and Todd Field) two couples just trying to make things work. They have to find humor in minor things. Kevin Corrigan adds humor as Keener's sometime date, who finds out he is referred to as the "ugly guy".
Liev Schreiber adds a good element to the film. Keener's former boyfriend, he is there for her, even as she pursues Corrigan who works at a video store:..."Jeez look at him...I thought I could relax for once"... Keener says as she wonders why he has rejected her.
This has been compared to "Sex and the City", but there really is no comparison. A one hour TV show vs. film; this film has resonance; we will remember and want to see these characters again, they are not cardboard cut-out characterizations. TV has to be more polarized, due to the medium and time limits, hence the characters are more superficial and obvious.(Could we picture Kim Catrall in this film, I don't think so). I am surprised Nicole Holfcener has not surmised this, and realized the casting mistake in "Friends with Money"; if someone has a too-TV persona, they do not necessarily translate to film. That was one of the problems with FWM.
Also the performances in this film were not preceded by the personalities. Heche is believable, amusing and sympathetic. Catherine Keener is quirky, interesting and multi-layered. Liev Schreiber is funny, a good friend and we want to see more of him. Please, Ms. Holofcener, for your next film use film actors, not people who had a high "TV Q" or were married to a film celebrity for a brief period. It makes a great deal of difference, and the finished product proves this to be so. 9/10
I have seen "Friends With Money" which was a disappointment compared to this and "Lovely and Amazing". This film succeeds because we care about the characters, Anne Heche as the therapist, trying to control her wedding, Catherine Keener as confused and disappointed single again friend. Andrew and Laura (Schreiber and Keener), Frank and Amelia,(Ann Heche and Todd Field) two couples just trying to make things work. They have to find humor in minor things. Kevin Corrigan adds humor as Keener's sometime date, who finds out he is referred to as the "ugly guy".
Liev Schreiber adds a good element to the film. Keener's former boyfriend, he is there for her, even as she pursues Corrigan who works at a video store:..."Jeez look at him...I thought I could relax for once"... Keener says as she wonders why he has rejected her.
This has been compared to "Sex and the City", but there really is no comparison. A one hour TV show vs. film; this film has resonance; we will remember and want to see these characters again, they are not cardboard cut-out characterizations. TV has to be more polarized, due to the medium and time limits, hence the characters are more superficial and obvious.(Could we picture Kim Catrall in this film, I don't think so). I am surprised Nicole Holfcener has not surmised this, and realized the casting mistake in "Friends with Money"; if someone has a too-TV persona, they do not necessarily translate to film. That was one of the problems with FWM.
Also the performances in this film were not preceded by the personalities. Heche is believable, amusing and sympathetic. Catherine Keener is quirky, interesting and multi-layered. Liev Schreiber is funny, a good friend and we want to see more of him. Please, Ms. Holofcener, for your next film use film actors, not people who had a high "TV Q" or were married to a film celebrity for a brief period. It makes a great deal of difference, and the finished product proves this to be so. 9/10