friends with money Photo

Friends With Money

Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Catherine Keener, Joan Cusack, Frances McDormand

Directed by: Nicole Holofcener

RS: 3.5of 4 Stars Average User Rating: 2.5of 4 Stars

Has a smart movie - and Friends With Money is most definitely a keenly observant social satire - ever been saddled with such dumb-ass extras? We get to watch the Los Angeles premiere and hear writer-director Nicole Holofcener introduce her stars, led by Jennifer Aniston as the single friend forced to work as a maid while her married pals (Catherine Keener, Joan Cusack and Frances McDormand) rake in the dough. "Hear" is the operative word. We never see any stars; the camera stays fixed on Holofcener. But wait, another extra, on the film's debut at the Sundance Film Festival, features the actresses telling us the movie was a joy to work on because it had a great script. Thanks, ladies, we needed that. Any insights into what was great about said script are not provided. Of course, the DVD lets the film speak for itself, which it does eloquently despite a less than vivid transfer. It turns out money is a hell of a subject for a movie, especially one rendered with decidedly un-Hollywood nuance and intimacy. On the commentary track, Holofcener and producer Anthony Bregman discuss how they managed to make a film about women in male-dominated Hollywood. I'd congratulate them if they didn't so readily applaud themselves. All the talk about women led me to watch the film again with a closer eye on the men in it. And Jason Isaacs, Gregg Germann and Scott Caan do splendidly. Simon McBurney does even better as McDormand's husband, a metrosexual her friends assume is gay. Bregman asks Holofcener directly if the character is gay, to which she answers, "I feel it's really none of my business." Whatever you'd call such smug evasiveness, which the commentary reeks of, I wouldn't label it - as the DVD does - a "special bonus feature."

PETER TRAVERS

(Posted: Sep 7, 2006)

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Not Rated

Keenly observant social satire? Not quite, but fun to watch all the same, mostly because of the outstanding cast. If there's some underlying message about friendships being more valuable than wealth or money can't buy happiness or any of that BS, keep in mind that the most well-adjusted characters in the story are loaded married family people and the most pathetic character is broke, single and lonely. So there.

Oct 30, 2006 12:56:16

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