ENOUGH SAID (A-minus) - Nicole Holofcener makes movies that skim by under the radar and can feel nearly weightless. That doesn't make them insignificant.
Holofcener is a studious
observer of the existential weight of middle-class privilege: white guilt
("Please Give") or women's self image ("Lovely &
Amazing"). Her latest adult comedy, a love story starring Julia
Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini, is one of Holfcener's most satisfying. It's
a simple tale of love and coupling and of aging and regret. It's a wry,
bittersweet breakdown of a budding relationship between a man and a woman, each
divorced, settling into middle age and watching a daughter go off to college.
The film relies heavily
on Louis-Dreyfus, a TV comedian, and she comes through like a seasoned movie
veteran. Louis-Dreyfus has never not been funny -- even in the sitcom "The
New Adventures of Old Christine," if you happen to stumble on a repeat at
an odd time of day, and especially in HBO's "Veep" -- and here she's
her usual charming self, schlumping around L.A. with a massage table on her
back as Eva, a mobile masseuse. The physical comedy of just her hauling that
table in and out of the back of her car never gets old.
Eva attends a party with
pals Sarah and Will (Toni Collette and Ben Falcone) and, separately, meets poet
Marianne (Catherine Keener), a potential new customer, and shlubby Albert
(James Gandolfini), a meet-cute potential mate. She agrees to a date with
Albert and has a great time, despite a lack of physical attraction at first
(he's got that big belly and a doughy face). Meantime, she gives Marianne massages
and the two become friends, with Eva serving as a sounding board for the
neurotic writer, who mainly bitches about her goofy ex-husband, who happens to
turn out to be ... Albert.
The true genius of this
movie is the fact that Eva soon puts two and two together but does
nothing about it and proceeds to undermine both relationships. Sucking up
Marianne's poison empowers Eva to undermine her fledgling romance with Albert
before it has a chance to plant roots. It's a subtle psychological study, and
soon Eva is channeling Marianne and henpecking poor Albert and embarrassing him
in front of friends (and embarrassing herself more in the process). This all
builds to an inevitable sitcom reveal, and the final third of the film
chronicles the self-loathing of Eva, as she tries to repair the damage done to
the relationship, as well as come to terms with the departure of her daughter, Ellen,
off to Sarah Lawrence. Eva has neglected her daughter's emotional well-being,
in particular by palling around with Ellen's clingy best friend Chloe.
It's tough to explain how
touching this film is, and also how funny it is. There are few all-out belly
laughs. I did like this exchange between Eva and Sarah and Will over Sarah's
obsession with rearranging her furniture on a weekly basis. Will is baffled
over why Sarah keeps moving stuff around:
Eva: She's filling a
hole.
Will: I'll fill your hole.
Sarah (sighing):
Different hole.
Unfortunately, many of
the scenes with Sarah and Will (and the inept maid who they can't bring
themselves to permanently fire) are not fully fleshed out; good ideas and key
plot devices, but not quite three-dimensional. They do factor in a pivotal
scene, hosting Eva and Albert at dinner, where Eva can't help herself and
cruelly nags Albert to the point of exasperation. (I squirmed a bit, because
I'm sure I've done that to mates in the past, thinking I was being clever; but
I also laughed out loud during the scene, especially over the running gag about
Eva being endlessly amused by the fact that Albert apparently doesn't know how
to quietly whisper.)
Why is Eva sabotaging the
relationship? It can't just be because the guy's a physical mess. She's got
some deep problems gnawing at her. She can't be real with Albert or her
daughter. She won't jettison Marianne because she thinks Marianne is so needy
that she'll fall apart if Eva doesn't stay friends with her. (Marianne is mostly
bereft of friends, though she does have Joni Mitchell on speed dial.) All the
while, Louis-Dreyfus draws us further in through a face that is no longer a
comic mask but that of a handsome 50-ish woman who has been wounded in the past
and hasn't figured out a way to recover.
Holofcener offers a clue
to what's going on in an early scene, when Albert and Eva are in a post-coital
cuddle. Eva, facing away from him, her eyes lifeless, says, "I'm tired of
being funny." Albert responds with, "Yeah, me, too." There's a pregnant
pause, and then Eva says, "But you're not funny."
She's being playful, but
cutting. She's cynical and more than a little worn down. And she's putting up a facade, unable
to let a person get a glimpse of her raw emotion.
Like this lovely film,
she is being sweet and sarcastic, because that's all she knows how to do at the
moment.
Bonus Features
This movie features a
trio of my favorite supporting actresses: Catherine Keener, Michaela Watkins
and Amy Landecker. Pardon me if I have a bit of a type.
Other A-grade films by
Nicole Holofcener, in order of preference:
- Lovely & Amazing
- Please Give
- Friends With Money
- Walking and Talking
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