James Gandolfini and Julia Louis-Dreyfus are the reasons to go see Enough Said. Director and writer Nicole Holofcener delivers a predictable romantic comedy. Gandolfini plays a chubby divorced man with a daughter who is about to leave home to study fashion at an eastern college. Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays a masseuse (divorced, of course) with a daughter who is about to head east to attend Sarah Lawrence College. Gandolfini and Louis-Dreyfus meet at a party and start dating. At the same party, Louis-Dreyfus meets a poet (Catherine Keener) who becomes one of her clients. The triangle of Gandolfini, Louis-Dreyfus, and Keener power this movie, but it’s predictable. No surprises here. But Gandolfini, in one of his last roles before his untimely death, is genial and clever. I had forgotten how expressive Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ face is. Her magical eyes steal just about every scene she’s in. Gandolfini and Louis-Dreyfus lift this mediocre movie into something worth watching. GRADE: B+
Although she is a good actress and beloved of certain crtics, Catherine Keener almost always plays extremely annoying and off-putting characters. She’s starred in most of Holofcener’s movies.
Jeff, you’re right about Catherine Keener. She plays an annoying ex-wife in ENOUGH SAID. Keener’s very convincing.
the trailers make it look clever and warm
Rick, ENOUGH SAID is clever and warm. But it’s utterly predictable.
It is the most unsurprising and plot-driven of the Holofcener films I’ve seen, and that and the cast (and the death of Gandolfini) are probably a chunk of why Fox Searchlight is pushing this one harder than any other Holofcener film…”more accessible”.
Keener does enjoy playing characters with vinegar, but recall also THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN and to some extent as the much put-upon mother and daughter, sandwiched between rather more Difficult generational representatives, in PEACE, LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING.
Todd, I’m a big fan of Catherine Keener. I suspect you’re right about the motivation of FOX SEARCHLIGHT. Gandolfini is a big factor in the success of this film.
I still like it, btw. Just not up to WALKING AND TALKING…
The dynamics of the various daughter relations are a major plot point, and rather well-done (if also a bit heavyhanded and telegraphed at first).
Ah. That minor film is Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding…
Todd, I confess the mother-daughter subplot left me cold. And the whole “angst” about the daughters going away to school seemed overdone. When Patrick and Katie went off to college we didn’t suffer from any separation anxiety that afflict the characters in ENOUGH SAID.
I liked WALKING AND TALKING too. The one about buying estate furniture, not so much.
Jeff, I haven’t seen WALKING AND TALKING but I’ve heard Good Things about it.