Enough Said

There are two very good reasons to watch this film.

1. Its James Gandolfini's last film.

2. Its written and directed by the awesome Nicole Holofcener.

Granted Holofcener is the queen of chick flicks.  One of her earliest films I remember of hers is Walking And Talking which starred Catherine Keener who also stars in this film too, but not as the main character.

This time around we have quirky Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Eva the self-employed masseuse who is at a cross-roads in her life. She's devoted a lot of her self to a daughter who is going off to college. Although, she feels they are never quite as close as she wants them to be.

Perhaps she over thinks her friendships, her once upon a time marriage. She hasn't exactly embraced the single life and she goes on, day in and day out, listening to people's problems as she works. Feeling that perhaps no one takes her quite serious enough.

And then she meets two interesting people at a party. One is a poet, Catherine Keener and the other is her ex-husband Albert (James Gandolfini).

Eva, of course, has to hear about all the bad things Albert ever did from Keener's Marianne. But she's met this wonderful and interesting man that she thinks she could have a relationship with..and its a good start of something.

Oh, it is an odd triangle. A Relationship verses a Friendship. Can Eva even take sides? Should she have too? Honestly, its a modern tale that I think many can relate, too. And Holofcener always does what she does best with interesting dialogue and even more interesting characters.

Its one of my favorite films this past year. It truly made me smile.

_{Eva set out just drive by Albert’s house like she usually did. To reminisce. Think about what they could have had. What it could have been like. If she hadn’t been “torn.” Insistent upon protecting herself. Being selfish and generally fucked up inside.}

_{But she stopped and pulled over. Albert was home. All she could think of when she stared at him through the glass was how she had hurt Marianne, hurt herself, hurt him. Him. A gentle giant. A sensitive, deserving man who got tangled up with her.} 

_{Just then, she locked eyes with Albert. He saw her. She gave a stupid, little wave. “Hi.” She watched Albert walk away from the window. She could feel her heart sinking to the bottom of her chest. She felt a glimmer of hope, only for it to be shattered into a thousand pieces. Like everything good inside was overshadowed by a dark cloud....}

STORYLINE: A divorced and single parent, Eva (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) spends her days enjoying work as a masseuse but dreading her daughter's impending departure for college. She meets Albert (James Gandolfini) - a sweet, funny and like-minded man also facing an empty nest. As their romance quickly blossoms, Eva befriends Marianne (Catherine Keener), her new massage client. Marianne is a beautiful poet who seems "almost perfect" except for one prominent quality: she rags on her ex-husband way too much. Suddenly, Eva finds herself doubting her own relationship with Albert as she learns the truth about Marianne's ex.

tumblr