DVD Reviews

Friends With Money

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• Starring: Catherine Keener
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Drama focusing on the relationships between four friends in their late 30s and early 40s, three with money and one poor(ish).Films that are essentially plotless and are, in essence, character-driven pieces, need acutely strong and likeable characters to carry through the lack of narrative. Friends with Money is a film with characters that are so smarmy and unlikeable you may just find yourself wishing them harm. As with most films of this sort that fail, it's a lot to do with underdevelopment on the script side, and a lack of a complete vision from the director. While the intention is there - one friend has no money (Aniston)and is constantly patronised by the others (who are loaded and plodding through life, either completely unaware of the cracks in their relationships or bitching about the problems in their friends' marriages), there is a severe lack of depth and context overall. Writer and Director Nicole Holofcener (who was behind the excellent Walking and Talking) has far too many characters here to really say anything substantial or mildly interesting about love, marriage or friendship; and the result is a cluttered, inane film that wastes a strong female cast. Everything feels brushed over, only slightly touched-on, and when you want one interesting storyline to further expand, it jumps to another - ostensibly without any explanation or proper conclusion. Aniston is dealt the worst hand: her character is all subtext and hinting, before a sloppy subplot unfolds and makes her seem, well, dense. While it's very nicely shot, giving it an intimate but cinematic feel, its characters seem more suited to serial drama than celluloid. Generally the performances are decent, but they are not strong enough for you to care about these condescending and quite frankly, irritating people. Poor.

Review by Mike Sheridan