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.
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Article comments
1 - Chris Evans
Disagree with you about Aniston. She's an incredibly underrated actress. Yeah, she's no Nicole Kidman--you won't see her playing Virginia Woolf anytime soon, but when she's in the right role she's golden. I thought she was great in Friends With Money as well as in The Good Girl which is one of my favorite films of all time.
2 - Alan Dale
Thanks for the comment, Chris. I figured Aniston couldn't have made a zillon dollars per episode on Friends for 10 years w/o picking up a lot of fans. Actually, I like her better than Nicole Kidman, who strikes me as waxy and pose-y. I like Aniston in her range, it just strikes me as a small-screen range. The audience with which I saw Friends With Money clearly responded to McDormand more than to Aniston.
3 - Chris Evans
Lmao! I loved Frances McDormand. She's brill in EVERYTHING.
4 - Alan Dale
Best story about McDormand: early on, when she would get auditions for movie roles that specified the character had a full figure, she would show up with a pair of fake tits in a shopping bag.
5 - Chris Evans
Dude, that's fucking hilarious!
6 - Joan Rivers
I couldn't agree with you more, Aniston has no range. She is more worried about her hair not being perfect than transforming fully into her character. She has never had any kind of acting ability, she should of been a hair dresser instead. She is cute but that's all she has going for her and that is slowly fading.
7 - Alan Dale
Ouch. Well, I like her a bit more than you do, but I certainly don't miss her between movies. And I never understood the appeal of Friends at all. Thanks for that energetic comment.