Friends With Money | Review

Third times a charm for Holfcener.

Exploring the dysfunctional middle-class, middle-aged, suburban white couples which perforate throughout the American landscape, Nicole Holofcener once again provides characters who are engaging and caringly thought-out. While the subject matter isn’t necessarily unique, the dialogue, the sentiments and resentment found within the script channels those little factoids that rarely get mentioned at the dinner table. Friends with Money reveals plenty about how couples engage within one another, but more importantly, how individuals take care of each another.

Lead by a strong female cast (Holofcener-alumni Catherine Keener, Francis McDormand, Joan Cusack), this great ensemble piece navigates inside this narrative structure which takes just enough time to analyze each person in their solitudes among themselves and solitudes among others. This slice of life for better and for worse template offers some genuine moments of laughter and avoids making the bittersweet into the melodramatic. This comes across as a call out to all women – that can no longer afford to be bystanders, to accept less or live the status-quo. However, like Aniston’s character clearly demonstrates – sometimes by accepting less you are actually gaining more.

Thankfully, there is not some big uniting theme here or some level of interconnectedness, but one uniting feature which is not explored enough in film is that confining yet defining space inside a motorized vehicle.

Its one of those factoids in life that the real bottom of issues get discussed inside a space where there is no escaping – whenever no levels, spaces or rooms get added into the mix it tends to increase the levels in communication breakdowns.

This is only Holofcener’s third time out as a director – Lovely & Amazing was her most recent take on strained relationships. Here, the blending of the 30-somethings issues are well covered with this four-fold of female friends, what perhaps make Friends with Money light and simple to digest is that the film doesn’t feel compartmentalized and comes across as properly weighed out. Though suffering is explored with a grain of salt instead of in a heart-wrenching manner, this light dramedy feels good – with just the right pacing, the film feels like a hot bowl of chicken soup when you’ve got the flu.

Sundance 2006.

Rating 3 stars