Walking And Talking is a lot more talking than walking. It's the sort of film that some will think is the cat's meow while others will despise it like it's a child molester and both points of view will be valid. That's because while this movie is well done, what it does is so blisteringly ordinary. Just about anyone who watches it will have moments of emotional recognition for what's going on in the story and most will spend the time in between those moments plaintively waiting for the talking and walking to go anywhere.
Amelia (Catherine Keener) is a single woman in New York City. She has a lifelong best friend named Laura (Anne Heche) who's now living with a boyfriend (Todd Field). Amelia doesn't have a boyfriend. She does have an ex-boyfriend named Andrew (Liev Schrieber) who hangs around like Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld. Amelia's also got a cat dying of cancer and a video store clerk/horror movie fan (Kevin Corrigan) who wants to bone her.
As soon as Laura's boyfriend proposes to her, she starts fancying other men. As soon as Amelia gets comfortable with "settling" for the video store clerk, he dumps her for saying he's ugly behind his back. Andrew has a father with Alzheimer's and a pseudo-girlfriend in California whom he wants to dump right after he has phone sex with her. Amelia feels abandoned by Laura not always being there for her and Laura can't always be there for her because she's actually gone out and gotten a life of her own.
Now take all of that and coat it with 2 ½ inches of well written but mostly inconsequential blather and you've got Walking And Talking. It'll work for you if you like the performers, enjoy having a waterfall of very short scenes splash over you and appreciate examinations of humanity in utterly unexceptional circumstances. It'll feel like a potato peeler across your forehead if you want characters that are likable, need a story to have some propulsion and don't want to watch a motion picture that's less interesting than your own life.
Catherine Keener does a wonderful job playing a woman you really wouldn't want to know. Anne Hech is as good playing a woman you would want to know but would have a love/hate relationship with. Liev Schreiber is okay, except for the fact that Amelia and Andrew's relationship is written as though Nicole Holofcener has never met a man, let alone dated one. Ex-lovers can certainly break up and still find a way to be friends. That way is not going to be like it is here, where Amelia treats Andrew like her gay best friend and Andrew behaves like he's her gay best friend. That's an odd way for ex-lovers to relate and requires a lot more explanation than it gets in Walking And Talking.
Which is a complaint that could be levied against much of this script. While the film is already too long as 86 minutes, the story feels like significant parts of it are regularly being skipped in order to show you scenes that would normally be cut out of a film to tighten it up. None of it's bad, but you can't help thinking there's something more important you should be seeing.
If you like dramas where the drama is muted, comedies where the comedy produces more knowing grins than giggles and romances where you don't particularly care if the lovers get together or not, give Walking And Talking a try. If you can take pleasure from craft for its own sake, give Walking And Talking a try. If you want a movie that doesn't remind you of the inane conversations you've had with your own friends, find something else to watch
Amelia (Catherine Keener) is a single woman in New York City. She has a lifelong best friend named Laura (Anne Heche) who's now living with a boyfriend (Todd Field). Amelia doesn't have a boyfriend. She does have an ex-boyfriend named Andrew (Liev Schrieber) who hangs around like Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld. Amelia's also got a cat dying of cancer and a video store clerk/horror movie fan (Kevin Corrigan) who wants to bone her.
As soon as Laura's boyfriend proposes to her, she starts fancying other men. As soon as Amelia gets comfortable with "settling" for the video store clerk, he dumps her for saying he's ugly behind his back. Andrew has a father with Alzheimer's and a pseudo-girlfriend in California whom he wants to dump right after he has phone sex with her. Amelia feels abandoned by Laura not always being there for her and Laura can't always be there for her because she's actually gone out and gotten a life of her own.
Now take all of that and coat it with 2 ½ inches of well written but mostly inconsequential blather and you've got Walking And Talking. It'll work for you if you like the performers, enjoy having a waterfall of very short scenes splash over you and appreciate examinations of humanity in utterly unexceptional circumstances. It'll feel like a potato peeler across your forehead if you want characters that are likable, need a story to have some propulsion and don't want to watch a motion picture that's less interesting than your own life.
Catherine Keener does a wonderful job playing a woman you really wouldn't want to know. Anne Hech is as good playing a woman you would want to know but would have a love/hate relationship with. Liev Schreiber is okay, except for the fact that Amelia and Andrew's relationship is written as though Nicole Holofcener has never met a man, let alone dated one. Ex-lovers can certainly break up and still find a way to be friends. That way is not going to be like it is here, where Amelia treats Andrew like her gay best friend and Andrew behaves like he's her gay best friend. That's an odd way for ex-lovers to relate and requires a lot more explanation than it gets in Walking And Talking.
Which is a complaint that could be levied against much of this script. While the film is already too long as 86 minutes, the story feels like significant parts of it are regularly being skipped in order to show you scenes that would normally be cut out of a film to tighten it up. None of it's bad, but you can't help thinking there's something more important you should be seeing.
If you like dramas where the drama is muted, comedies where the comedy produces more knowing grins than giggles and romances where you don't particularly care if the lovers get together or not, give Walking And Talking a try. If you can take pleasure from craft for its own sake, give Walking And Talking a try. If you want a movie that doesn't remind you of the inane conversations you've had with your own friends, find something else to watch