Friends with Money: Finally saw it last night!

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Hilary the Touched
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Friends with Money: Finally saw it last night!

Post by Hilary the Touched » Sun Apr 30, 2006 11:07 am

Saw it with long-suffering DH last night, in a theatre which was probably less than half full... :-| The audience was, predictably, about equally divided between couples and pairs of women (though there was at least one pair of men). Their reactions were quiet but engaged.

I enjoyed the movie very much. I concur that there wasn't really a whole lot going on, but then, isn't life usually like that?? I found the characters believable, if not always likeable, and felt that the motivation for their behaviour was understandable and consistent.

I did have a few quibbles--this movie was far more true-to-life than The Chumscrubber, and I agreed with the reviewer who observed that these people's children were remarkably little in evidence. I understood that all 3 of the couples had 'help', but these folk were just remarkably unencumbered. I don't remember how old my child was before I could finally make a phone call uninterrupted, and I am just now recovering the ability to carry on a conversation with a coherent thought pursued to its conclusion. These really were 'children as props'.
I know that the point of the film was the adult characters and their relationships with one another, but that aspect did strike me as unrealistic.

I thought Jennifer Aniston was fine, though admittedly her role didn't really require much from her. I did identify with her character, with her perpetual acquiescence, though I still found it maddening--and wasn't Mike the most appalling little shit!!!! Ooooh I just kept hoping Olivia would come to her senses and beat him to death with the vacuum cleaner. Sometimes you just can't be arsed--and it's not a pretty thing.

I didn't find Frances McDormand's character, Jane, as much of a stand-out as other reviewers. I also identified with her, with that feeling of let-down and quiet bewilderment, and have certainly felt the same impulse to let fly in the parking lot. If I was her husband, I don't think I'd have taken her out anymore though--she was becoming pretty insufferable company. The hair-washing thing didn't bug me nearly as much as the unending bitching in restaurants.
And her clothes?? Um, nice, I guess--weren't we all wearing those Indian gauzes in 1980?? I did find it fairly implausible that somebody with that background, someone whose garments sold for $800, would shop at Old Navy--for anybody. That was another point, actually--aside from David and Christine, we never saw anybody work, and seldom heard about it either.

Char commented earlier about Christine's clumsiness--I don't think she was really, like, uncoordinated, per se--I find that sometimes when I'm having a bad week, when I feel like I've fucked something up or done something stupid, I tend to bash into things a lot more often than usual. I'm not sure if that's some sort of attempt to punish myself, or part of my brain is distancing itself from my corporeal being or what, but it's true. And I think that was the deal with Christine--she didn't feel very graceful in her world, and it was being physically expressed.
I found her exchanges with David very Women are from Venus--she wanted to be assured that David cared about her, that her feelings were important to him, whereas he didn't see a problem that required actual reparitive action on his part (yes I'm sure that's not a real word but you know what I mean) so he didn't bother responding.
Jane talked wistfully of how she felt like her life was essentially over, how she had spent the first part anticipating the fabulousness, and now that she had the things, the relationships and the achievements she'd dreamed of, she had nothing left to look forward to; I think that to a degree that was Christine's problem too. She had transferred all her wishes and hopes about her marriage, about her life, to the extension on their house: when they had the extension, everything would be great, and so she didn't look beyond that to examining either the marriage or the extension! I did have to stifle a laugh when she finally went to her neighbour's house and was shown the view through the window: around here, we've got this grotesque trend to building the biggest house you can on the tiniest lot, so people don't have to go out and mess with maintaining a yard, I guess. There are hundreds that are literally 7 or 8 feet apart, like if you woke up and found you were out of sugar, your neighbour could just hand you some through the window. So the notion that this thing blocked the view--which didn't seem that great to me anyway--was kind of puzzling to me.
But I do understand the neighbours' feelings that they had just been rude and oblivious.

Aaron was entirely adorable. I don't know if he was gay or not, but he was certainly a lot more like I think I wish most men were.

Joan Cusack...jeez. I've never been that struck by her. When she was younger, she always seemed to have a kind of spastic quality that I found distasteful, and I found her speech physically sloppy. Now, I want to park her in front of the television with some of Christine's Ben & Jerry's--she looks downright stringy. Which is hypocritical of me, 'cause I'm all the time bitching about how there are no real-looking people in the movies, but there you go.

I thought Jason was fabulous. Infuriating and gorgeous. If I were Christine and I were not an exceptionally strong and confident person, I could certainly see, like kisscid, just absorbing the notion that the things I was taking issue with were my problem and I should just get over them. I felt very sorry for Christine, David struck me as so careless of her that it bordered on sociopathy. NOT a proper marital situation at all.
I thought his accent was flawless and completely natural, and while I do like his hair brushed back, I am coming around to this forward style thing. Man, there was one blue sweater he wore in this which was just so striking--it was an amazing colour, and it had this great kind of sheen, and it fit him so beautifully. YOW!!!

Yeah.
It was good. It was a good movie.
Last edited by Hilary the Touched on Thu Aug 09, 2007 5:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by Chari910 » Sun Apr 30, 2006 11:23 am

Great comments, Hil. Did Mal like it too? Or did he suffer thru it? :D

Please post it at IMDb or put some positive comments there. The movie is being buried by a lot of ignorant, thrill-seeking viewers. :mad:

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Post by Hilary the Touched » Sun Apr 30, 2006 11:30 am

Thanks, Char--Mal enjoyed it, though it's kind of part of his job to make disparaging comments about anything JI does :D He did laugh in the appropriate spots.
It's a smart, well-written movie with solid performances--sort of the opposite of the average Paul W.S. Anderson movie! Fanboys need not apply!
(I will try to mosey on over to IMDb later on, thanks for the exhortation.)

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Post by Hilary the Touched » Sun Apr 30, 2006 4:39 pm

A lot of reviewers have honed in on what they describe as the anger in Frances McDormand's character, Jane, attributing her refusal to wash her hair, for example, to rage at the world. I didn't see it that way at all, I didn't think it was an aggressive gesture, and I think much of her anger was really a feeling of powerlessness, at not being able to exert any degree of control over much of life.
The non-hair-washing could well have been manifested as an eating disorder instead--something she could control. She was just kind of refusing to participate.
She was also dealing with feelings of diminishing attractiveness, and if, for example, your husband is the one who gets hit on when you go out to restaurants, why should you go through the motions, why bother making an effort if things have concluded for you??
Partly menopause, partly just being an age when much of society dismisses you as past it.

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Post by Guest » Mon May 01, 2006 5:00 pm

Hilary I must gush at your review. I really enjoy your writing style. You come off as very educated with good insight into the human condition. Myself I'm just the typical stupid American. I am envious of your word usage and eloquence. Thank you for your thought full review.
Cid

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Post by Hilary the Touched » Mon May 01, 2006 5:19 pm

:shock: Oi, are you just taking the mickey??

Thanks, if you're serious!! I loved your review, it was brilliant!
(and actually, though I affectedly insist on retaining the Us in many words (as do most other English-speaking nations!!!), I have lived in the U.S. far longer than I've lived in Canada.

I'm just peculiar. :cool: )

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Post by Gillian » Mon May 01, 2006 5:50 pm

She may be American now, but she's still an honorary hoser. ;-)

(Hey Cid, if you enjoyed that you really should read Hil's review of Hotel. It's insightful, biting and just plain hysterical.)

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Post by Guest » Mon May 01, 2006 6:18 pm

I'll try and read the "Hotel" review. I saw this film and I have no clue as to where to start in reviewing it.
Oi, are you just taking the mickey??
I get the general gist of this statement, however this is not an expression used in the states. What exactly does it mean? Who or what is mickey? This is also used in HP when Ron and Harry are talking about someone taking Hermione to the ball. Don't have the exact quote handy. Can I be enlightened please?
Cid

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Post by kisscid » Mon May 01, 2006 7:02 pm

I just looked for the review of "Hotel" and I can't find it. Can someone please point me in the right direction?
Cid

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Post by Hilary the Touched » Mon May 01, 2006 7:41 pm

I saw this film and I have no clue as to where to start in reviewing it.
OOoooh yeah.
You saw Hotel all right.

To "take the mickey" or "mick" is slightly less rude than "taking the piss", but it means the same thing--"are you making fun of me, are you pretending to be serious at my expense?" I'm married to a man who emigrated from England at the age of 28, and for several years he was one of the few adults I had any significant contact with, so I'm afraid I sound like him a bit.
But it was mutual. He tells me to "Take off, eh?"

My Hotel review is parked on the page where Helen and BonnieKate's reviews are supposed to be, cough cough--well, Helen's been semi-good and only owes me a few--http://jasonisaacsonline.com/page2.html

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Post by kisscid » Tue May 02, 2006 5:42 pm

Good "Hotel" review. I enjoyed it - The review NOT the movie :D
I also like the website. Nice JI pics.
Cid

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Post by Hilary the Touched » Tue May 02, 2006 7:25 pm

Thank'ee, and thanks for checking it out!
There are some nice pictures, aren't there?? (Many courtesy of Char. If you haven't already, you should go visit her site--it's a veritable trove of JI images, articles and interviews.)

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Post by Helen8 » Wed May 03, 2006 10:20 am

cough cough--well, Helen's been semi-good and only owes me a few--

I'm not nearly as erudite or clever as you, Hil, in dissecting the human condition. You're a tough act to follow. That and I'm busy as heck with editing items that must be ready for sale before the end of the school year when unused school budget money (if such a thing exists anymore in our grossly underfunded schools) must be spent or lost.

Helen

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Friends with money

Post by Malfoy Grandma » Fri Sep 15, 2006 5:51 pm

Remember I bought 4 JI shows for my 76th birthday! Well, I have watched Dangerous Lady five whole times now! I love that show. Found Passionada fun and nice to watch, but boy, what a poor choice I made buying Nine lives! It was the style of the writing and stuff I did not like. JI and his girl were good. But this silly Friends with Money! Well, I watched it, next time will just fast-play till the parts with JI in it show up. Didn't find it very appealing, but somewhat appalling. I guess I am tired of whining women, even when they are reasonably good actresses. Hilary, your revue of it was right, and thanks for the work. There is no doubt in my mind that anytime JI is in anything, he will be better than everyone. But I found that Friends with Money was just about as bad as the one with Keanu Reeves, and Jason in a green sequined gown. Not JI I objected to but the script writing and most of the directing, plus the lousy frozen-faced acting by KR really put me off that film. Poor JI! We should all be casting him in our favorite movies, shouldn't we?

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Post by grannybear » Sat Jul 12, 2008 6:38 pm

Hey Grandma I'm with you. I watch the whole movie first then after that just fast forward to Jasons parts.

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