Boosted by Memoriam
As per my usual routine, I went online this past weekend to see which movie would be good to see in the theaters. My go-to for movie reviews is the meta-analysis site Rotten Tomatoes, which for money is the best review compilation site available. On a 100-point scale, they gave Enough Said a 95, which it doesn't take a brainiac to know that's great score. As I sat down to watch the film, I kept my fingers crossed that it didn't get wonderful reviews based on the fact that James Gandolfini passed away earlier this year. Unfortunately, that's exactly what I was met with.
I don't want to take away from the fact that this still was a good movie. Julia Louis-Dreyfus was good, although at times I still felt like I was watching an older version of Elaine. Despite the presence of the wonderful Toni Collette, the casting for this one was marginal. The real power of this film lies within its writing, and that's a big kudos to Nicole Holofcener, who really hadn't done anything major prior to the writing of this film. The dialogue between Gandolfini and Louis-Dreyfus can be best described as edgy realism. There was a stunning flow between all of the discord happening on the screen that made the drama feel palpable.
However, with realism you sacrifice many other things that the viewing public often demands these days. The humor was accordingly simple and slapstick-y with little wit or weight attached to it, making it difficult, at least for me, to really attach myself to the characters. While some might find beauty in the simplicity of the movie, others might find excuses to doze off and fall asleep. The film did in fact feel slow at many points and it was difficult to connect seemingly superfluous scenes to the apex of the movie. And of course, I did miss Gandolfini while I was watching the movie, but I did not feel that the posthumous release of this film added anything special to the end result.
So, if you are looking for a romantic comedy to laugh out loud in, this might not be the movie for you. However, the film certainly does make you think, especially if you can directly relate to themes of divorce and finding love again.
Written October 22, 2013
I don't want to take away from the fact that this still was a good movie. Julia Louis-Dreyfus was good, although at times I still felt like I was watching an older version of Elaine. Despite the presence of the wonderful Toni Collette, the casting for this one was marginal. The real power of this film lies within its writing, and that's a big kudos to Nicole Holofcener, who really hadn't done anything major prior to the writing of this film. The dialogue between Gandolfini and Louis-Dreyfus can be best described as edgy realism. There was a stunning flow between all of the discord happening on the screen that made the drama feel palpable.
However, with realism you sacrifice many other things that the viewing public often demands these days. The humor was accordingly simple and slapstick-y with little wit or weight attached to it, making it difficult, at least for me, to really attach myself to the characters. While some might find beauty in the simplicity of the movie, others might find excuses to doze off and fall asleep. The film did in fact feel slow at many points and it was difficult to connect seemingly superfluous scenes to the apex of the movie. And of course, I did miss Gandolfini while I was watching the movie, but I did not feel that the posthumous release of this film added anything special to the end result.
So, if you are looking for a romantic comedy to laugh out loud in, this might not be the movie for you. However, the film certainly does make you think, especially if you can directly relate to themes of divorce and finding love again.
Written October 22, 2013