Jack and I loved this comedy about dating, divorce, and communication. It's not a laugh riot but pure entertainment for those of us north of the 18-35 demographic. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is marvelous as the insecure divorcée Eva who has great chemistry with Albert, played by James Gandolfini in his penultimate role before he died at 51 a few months ago (he was last blogged in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone and his final movie is expected to be released next year). Louis-Dreyfus started on Saturday Night Live (1982-85), made her film debut in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), worked again with Woody Allen in Deconstructing Harry (1997) as Judy Davis' alter-ego while she racked up six Emmy nominations and one win for 172 episodes of Seinfeld (1990-98) plus four SAG award wins and more, then her 88 episodes of The New Adventures of Old Christine (2006-10) earned her four Emmy nominations and one win, and she just won her second Emmy for the lead actress in the HBO series Veep. Catherine Keener (recently in A Late Quartet), who is a regular for this director (more on that in a moment), is the perfect choice as the poet Marianne who turns out to be Albert's prickly ex-wife. Top-notch support comes from Toni Collette (last in The Way Way Back) as Eva's best friend Sarah and Ben Falcone (he's worked a fair amount but so far is best known for his small role in Bridesmaids and being Melissa McCarthy's real-life husband) as Sarah's husband, among others.
Director/writer Nicole Holofcener (won the Robert Altman Award for an ensemble picture at the Independent Spirit Awards for Please Give, among other wins) just keeps getting better at making movies about complicated relationships between modern, grown-up, if not always mature, urban folks.
Kudos to costume designer Leah Katznelson for the fabulous wardrobe, including funky masseuse outfits worn by the petite Louis-Dreyfus. Oh, and an inside joke for Seinfeld junkies: the actor who plays Eva's ex-husband, Toby Huss, dated Louis-Dreyfus' character Elaine in one 1997 episode of Seinfeld.
Twelve songs are listed on imdb and the composer is Marcelo Zarvos (Friends with Kids). You can preview clips from his dreamy score on iTunes. I would have considered buying it, but its 35 minutes are divided into 29 tracks, which isn't so dreamy.
You don't need to take my word(s) for it--critics have averaged 95% and audiences 82 on rottentomatoes. Be sure to see it, even though one friend said it made him want to never have a relationship again!
No comments:
Post a Comment