Lovely and Amazing (2001)

I didn't want this movie to end. Lovely & Amazing centers around two sisters--Michelle (Catherine Keener), a would-be artist, and Elizabeth (Emily Mortimer), a fledgling actress. Both are grappling with their mother's (Brenda Blethyn) going in for liposuction, the erratic behavior of their adopted sister (Raven Goodwin), and the flounderings of their love lives. Because her husband is having an affair, Michelle has a fling with a 17-year-old (Jake Gyllenhaal); meanwhile, Elizabeth breaks up with her sincere boyfriend (James LeGros) and falls into bed with a glib movie star (Dermot Mulroney). But no plot description will capture the exquisite pleasures of this movie; Lovely and Amazing is a superb kaleidoscope of moments, each new fragment shifting the whole into a new delightful pattern. The entire cast is outstanding; the script and direction of Nicole Holofcener (Walking and Talking) are subtle, funny, and sharply observed. --Bret Fetzer Amazon.com

Maybe She Was A Good Swimmer

It drives me mad to read reviews posted about this beautiful film that describe it as a chick-flick or a women's film or the most stomach-churning of them all, L.A.'s version of Sex and the City. Unbelievably narrow and blind to the universal (but uncomfortable) truths about all of us, men and women, that run through this remarkably written and performed film. Lovely and Amazing is one of my favourite films of the last 10 years because the writer and director, Nicole Holofcener is one of the very rare American directors who actually makes films about who we are and why we behave the way we do. In my opinion, she seems intensely interested in examining how human beings interact with each other and the oftentimes uncomfortable, awkward and disheartening compromises each one of us makes every day just to keep going. This has nothing to do with one gender or the other. There is nothing in Elizabeth's (Emily Mortimer's character) narcissism and self-absorption that doesn't ring true for myself and 90% of my friends (again - men and women) who are actors, writers, artists struggling to make a name for themselves. Catherine Keener's character, Michelle, and her sense of being lost and rudderless in the world seemingly filled with others her age who are focussed and achieving so much of what they always wanted, unfortunately reminds me of myself and my inability sometimes to deal with the real world. The way the Marks' daughters relate (and don't relate) to each other and their mother is so sensitively and realistically done I can only marvel at Holofcener's courage to put the truth right up there on the screen. Near the end of the film is a scene in a McDonald's (brilliant choice) between Catherine Keener and Raven Goodwin's characters - sisters who have never really understood each other. Their tenuous connection during this scene and the heartbreaking realization of Annie Marks (Goodwin) that her real mother may have been more than just one unpleasant thing - a drug addict - that she may have been a good swimmer - something Annie so very much wants to be, makes this scene one that I go back to in my mind almost every day. This scene is a revelation because it is so exquisitely written and played and because it speaks to every single one of us watching who has ever, for the sake of making ourselves feel better about who we are, described someone else as one thing - Oh, He's an actor; Oh, She's an alcoholic; Oh, He's old; Oh, She's a college dropout; Oh, He's a bitch. Yes. Sure. Maybe he/she is. But maybe she's a good swimmer.

As well.

Bravo to Nicole Holofcener. I eagerly await her 2009 project.
August 21, 2008

A womens' movie for men

Hey, I liked this chick flick because the acting is great, the script is intelligent and the plot makes sense. The soundtrack is good. It may feature some Hollywood actors like a young Jake Gyllenhall, but the ambience is completely indie and that's a great thing in a small movie. This is better than most blockbusters. It will make you relate to the human condition. August 4, 2008

Life in La La Land

There are some good things in this film. No 1 is the performance of Catherine Keener, who has the ability to make even the most odious of characters likable. ('loved her in Being John Malkovich) The next best thing is the performance of Raven Goodwin, who makes every scene she's in a delight. (Whoever did her hair in the last scenes should have won an Oscar.) Next: the always adorable Jake Gyllenhaal, playing a nerdy 17 who falls for the Keener character. (Whoever did his hair, though, should be fired...it's sooo black and shiney!) Next: a small part by Dermot Mulroney, resembling a young Sylvester Stallone--very cute.

The dialogue is smart. I found the pacing quick and it held my interest. The other actors are good enough. There are some worthy ideas introduced. I loved the scene with Gyllenhal and Keener in the car and later, the one with Keener and Goodwin in MacDonalds.

On the negative side: gee--these women are so damned spoiled, self centered and highly unrealistic! We're supposed to care about them but they make it hard! The Emiy Mortimer character is about as sexy or interesting as a dishrag, and has the same amount of presence. Who could imagine her succeeding as an actress? She should definitely get a job in an animal shelter. The Keener character has delusions of grandeur, trying to peddle off her childish crafts as "art" at ridiculous prices. When she got a job at the one-hour photo, it was the best thing she ever did, (after giving birth.) However these girls didn't stand a chance, with the mothering given them by the smart talking (supposedly) mom who doesn't have a good word to say about any men, but wants the plastic surgeon to like her. The answer to her problems is liposuction.

I suppose this will amuse or touch people who can identify with these people more than I could. It seems like there's a lot of talent here that could better be used on something a little more weighty. May 16, 2007

Interesting Little Movie

Lovely and Amazing is a feminine picture (albeit still watchable for a man) and it is also a deeply depressing story that briefly peaks into the lives of two women and their mother. It is slow and somewhat awkward but it retains it's positive side at the end with notably almost no resolution whatsoever. The film paces itself very slowly, yet somehow works well because it is written and handled with a refreshing eye. Nicole Hilofcenter (Sex and the City) directs.

Catherine Keener plays one of the daughters, Michelle, a 36 year old unemployed mother of one young daughter. Her husband is easy to relate to for a man and his patience as a character is exceptional because Keener's character has a highly volatile temper and she is for what it's worth completely unreasonable, yet somehow likeable at the same time. She sees herself as an artist and we watch her fail at that and then become a clerk at a one hour photo. There she has an affair with her 17 year old boss played by Jake Gyllenhaul. Things unfold for her as expected and I for one feel she gets what she deserves.

Her insecure younger sister Elizabeth, played by Emily Mortimer, on the other hand is originally dealt a fair hand and ironically gets it taken away as her insecurities are realized. She sleeps with an actor who is boorish enough to be honest about whether she is sexy or pretty enough to be an actress. You see, her being self-centered is seen as a requirement and that actually made it more fun for me to watch her fail. She is finished with her one night stand with this actor, and asks that he critique her body. She stands naked in front of him in a surprising, awkward and daring (for Mortimer) sequence. Mortimer is certainly attractive enough to watch her fully nude for this long but it's such a cold and bleak scene that really comes out of nowhere, it is certainly not meant to be sensual. She comes as who she is, vulnerable and probably not ready to enter the world of acting. The film is loaded with moments like this that go against the grain and ultimately help the characters get used to themselves as much as they may resist.

Their mother is in the midst of getting liposuction and the risks of surgery do indeed show themselves. She has adopted a young African American girl which makes for some interesting comments regarding race as well as she is enrolled in a "Big Sister" kind of program to get exposure to another black person. It's unfortunate that so little is said about their mother's past because she really ought to be the center of the film. Her story and her adopted daughter's story may have been intended to be delved into further...perhaps some was left on the cutting room floor.

All of the characters' fits of selfish vanity are always answered. That seems to be the running theme and it gives you a different outlook on these things despite these characters being fundamentally good people. Is it really so wrong to ignore or displace blame for your own vanity so easily? If so, isn't it society that is doing it to us or should we be accountable for it? Do we create our surrounding culture enough to pay the price for being ingrained within it's sins? Is there anything we can do about it? I know one thing, my latest job interview may go a hell of a lot better if I comb my hair and where a really nice suit then if I don't. Then again just like anything, vanity has it's excesses. Just as Lovely and Amazing finishes it's value in helping us ask interesting questions, it ends as unconventionally as it unfolds. It's no classic, but it is films like this that if other filmmakers take note it can certainly provide different avenues for expression.


May 11, 2007

"Lovely and Amazing" shows an interesting view into a family of women.

This is the second film that writer/director Nicole Holofcener has made, and I think that she has succeeded very well in making a highly original film with very interesting characters. Some people feel that the dialog is very good, although on occasion it felt a bit off to me. The story doesn't really go much of anywhere, but that's not really the point of a film like this. The acting in this movie was uniformly very good among the women.

"Lovely and Amazing" documents several days in the life of a mother and her three daughters. The mother, Jane (Brenda Blethyn), is in the midst of a mid-life crisis and decides to service herself through a liposuction treatment. As she is going through with the procedure, she asks her daughter Michelle (Catherine Keener) to take care of her younger, adopted sister Annie (Raven Goodwin). Michelle is a house-wife/artist who becomes so enthralled in her work of home-made miniature chairs that she asks ridiculous prices for them before storming out of stores at their disapproval. The third sister, Elizabeth (Emily Mortimer), is rescuing homeless dogs in between visits to her agent. Having just completed her roll in a Hollywood film, Elizabeth does her best to stay a humanitarian en route to what she wants to be success.

Eventually, all four women's problems are projected in full effect. Jake Gyllenhaal reprises his role as the adolescent roué who somehow ends up bedding Catherine Keener (just like Jennifer Aniston in "The Good Girl"). He is perfectly cast with his dark, sultry looks, and wild puppy eyes. Raven Goodwin played her part naturally well and shined on every scene. She is clearly a very talented actress and I've notice recently a lot of child actors on screen are really getting better in their roles. Finally we have Aunjanue Ellis who I believe is one of the most underrated African-American females on the screen today who has dramatize her role just as well as the rest of the cast, she seriously needs to have bigger parts to show off her full abilities. The men in the film have smaller roles because this is a film about (but not exclusively for) women. They include Jane's cosmetic surgeon, Michelle's husband, Elizabeth's boyfriend, Kevin McCabe (a star who Elizabeth reads for a part with, played by Dermot Mulroney).

"Lovely & Amazing" is a crazy entertaining movie. It has everything, liposuction, statutory rape, fast food, show business, and possibly rabies. Director Nicole Holefcener apparently had a lot to say and I quite enjoyed it. If you're a fan of any of these actors, then I would recommend this movie to you.
December 9, 2006

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