Last Thursday, I attended a special screening of Friends with Money. According to the Monmouth County Arts Council, our audience was the first to see the film since it premiered in Sundance.
I was excited to see this film because it is directed by one of my favorite directors, Nicole Holofcener (although I cannot pronounce her last name). She's directed some of my favorite TV shows, like Six Feet Under and Sex and the City, and also made two fantastic indie films, Walking and Talking and Lovely and Amazing.
I really like her style of filmmaking which is to create these interesting/funny characters that have personal dilemmas/screw-ups. She then looks at how these characters effect one another. Her films tend to lack huge contrived plotlines or character arcs. In fact, the characters don't usually work out their problems completely -- kind of like in real life. Unfortunately, this means that I'm always left wanting more at the end of her films. Once she invites me into these characters' lives, I want to see more. I want to know what happens to them.
The cast of Friends with Money is comprised of some of my favorite actresses -- Frances McDormand, Joan Cusack, and Catherine Keener (a Holofcener standby). In fact, Frances McDormand is so good in this film, that it only makes me want to work with her more than ever before (and I am secretly creating a TV show with her in mind in the attempts to do so).
McDormand, Cusack, and Keener are the "friends with money" referred to in the title. The "friend without money" is played by Jennifer Aniston - possibly the most famous "friend" in the world. I didn't expect much from Jennifer, as her acting tends to be limited to playing herself/Rachel. However, she did surprise me. She almost convinced me that she was a pot-smoking, irresponsible, poor, maid without a boyfriend. ALMOST. Under Holofcener's direction, Aniston comes close to disappearing into her character, Olivia, for the first time since her turn in The Good Girl.
Thankfully, Aniston is not tranformed completely by the end of the movie, and she doesn't get to look glamorous or gorgeous -- even at a big black-tie fundraising event that anchors act three. But, it was difficult to suspend disbelief at certain parts of the movie. Aniston is so famous and rich, that it's hard to buy that she's poor or that she has trouble finding men. A big point of the movie is that Aniston's character is "lazy" and doesn't exercise. And yet, there she is up on our screen -- a perfect size 1, with killer toned thighs. If Aniston had transformed physically into the character of Olivia, perhaps she would have been more convincing. And she could have done so fairly easily by eating a donut or two.
And finally, we get pieces of Olivia's problems, but as played by Aniston, they never really seem to be that overwhelming. They don't explain really who she is. Her character flaws are listed for us loud and clear, and yet we never really see Aniston bring those elements to life. Also, we never learn why these women are friends, or what each of them brings to the friendship. It seems like at this point in their life, they would have written off a loser like Olivia. Unless, she was the type of person who brought something positive to the table -- which she doesn't seem to do.
Overall, it was a fun and entertaining movie, and a great showcase for some wonderful actresses. And yet, the men are not merely set dressing. They are interesting and funny in their own right. This character-driven movie, where problems aren't all neatly resolved, is the type of film that I'd like to be able to make. Nicole Holofcener is definitely on my list of "women I'd like to work with."
I've been looking forward to this one, and even more so now. Thanks for the early review!
Posted by: Donna | Tuesday, April 04, 2006 at 06:01 PM