My thoughts about movies and TV shows I've been watching

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Saturday, March 8, 2014

Not quite enough - Gandolfini's last film?

On the plus side, Enough Said, a light bauble of a rom-com movie that's a bit light on the com and veers precipitously toward the rom, has four totally likable stars sharing the billing, so it's an easy-to-watch 90 minutes: Dreyfus hasn't changed much over the years, and it's nice to see her so deftly play the role of a 40ish and independent LA-area divorcee looking for love but reasonably confident in her life and self-worth; good to see Toni Collette at last get a chance to be herself in full Australian, a talented actress going all the way back to 6th sense who doesn't have to overplay the part to hold the screen (a la States of Tara), C Keener appealing too in a rare performance as a self-centered diva - showing she doesn't always have play the likable good pal, and of course so sad to see Gandolfini in what I guess is his last role - never quite getting out from under the shadow of Tony Soprano but showing some versatility in as a good guy, sort of a nerd in love. All that said, there's really just so little to this movie - boy & girl meet, girl makes really stupid mistake, boy is hurt and breaks up, but both miss each other terribly and at last put aside pride and get together again. Sounds like about a million 1950s ballads, right? Of course a lot of relationships are exactly like that, and to its credit this film does not romanticize or sentimentalize like, say, As Good as It Gets or that stupid movie with Meryl Streep being courted by Steve Martin. You can actually accept Dreyfuss and Gandolfini as a likely couple - appealing, witty, but by no means glam or perfect. The awkwardness of their first date is handled very well, very credible. It's also one of the rare movies to actually approximate the look of a not-so-great middle-class LA apartment (Gandolfini's), if dreyfuss's digs are a little to H&G for a self-employed masseuse. There are bad marriages in Enough Said but at least not all guys are bad, it's not always the guy's fault. But despite its good intentions, Enough Said is so light that if you let go it will float away - there's nothing new, surprising, or terribly moving here - you can see where it's going with every frame - but if rom-com's your thing you could do much worse.

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