Keener's role as a woman married to her writing partner, whose emotional detachment she realizes she can't deal with, does not convey to the recreational viewer the complexity that Holofcener says to Salon she intended ("But she's in there, ruining this marriage along with him."). Plus, it's wrong for Keener's talent--more whiny than bitchy. And Cusack's role is barely formulated. Since the stories are thus mostly underdeveloped and/or miscast, the design is never achieved.

Holofcener may have enough authority now to have laid down her scourge, but it's hard to distinguish the more tentative approach to narrative in Friends With Money from an identity crisis. Maybe that's why McDormand's material has by far the most bite. Jane's preoccupations are clearly more pressing to Holofcener than Olivia's slow spiral, but she didn't structure the script around them (which does not prevent McDormand from making a stronger impression than the star of the movie, just as she did in North Country). It's as if Holofcener had lost interest in plaguing a loser like Olivia, but not the habit. And a half-hearted ironist is a swamped boat. There are sharp moments in Friends With Money, but the prickings dissipate surprisingly fast.

The Break-Up isn't even as engaging as Friends With Money, but it too has a few appealing actors doing inventive things. Vincent D'Onofrio turns the tedious role of Gary's hard-working older brother into something like an individual, and Jon Favreau gets laughs like a veteran with twice his experience in his scene assuring Gary that he isn't going to have Brooke's new boyfriend killed, wink wink. But finally Friends With Money is far more of a disappointment because it might have been better; The Break-Up is merely forgettable.