Enough Said - A Review by Philip Josse

Enough Said is a 2013 comedy film directed by Nicole Holofcener, starring Julia Louis Dreyfus and James Gandolfini, in one of his last starring roles. The film is also the first leading film role for Julia Louis Dreyfus, who is mostly known as a television actress, and has only had small parts and cameos in films up till now. Enough Said is about two middle aged baby boomers, both single parents and divorcees who have to deal with new relationships and their children leaving to college.

Louis Dreyfus plays Eva, a masseuse who meets and falls for Albert played by Gandolfini. Things are complicated somewhat when Eva realizes that her new friend and client is actually her new boyfriend's ex-wife. Despite how corny this story sounds, Enough Said is actually rather good, it is a rather unconventional romance film, and it never tries to overstretch its boundaries. Enough Said is a small film, but it is a good small film, and it is able to successfully analyze it's subject matter, without feeling the need to be 'about something'.

Louis Dreyfus is superb in the lead role, she really shows her versatility as an actress, as this role is very different from most of her television performances. Eva is a fairly uncomplicated woman, she works as a masseuse and she has a small circle of friends. Upon meeting a new client and realizing that she is Albert's ex-wife, she becomes slightly more catty, meaner and more harsh. However the film never looses it's sense of fun, and the spirit of the film is always light and friendly. James Gandolfini is also fantastic as Albert, and this character is certainly very different to Tony Soprano. Gandolfini had a superb comic range, and his work on this film is impressive.

Enough Said is a well written comedy with a supreme sense of fun, it is entertaining and well acted, and works within the bounds of it's genre. Rating: B-

Eva: You think they have threesomes?

Theodore and the very real OS

In the near distant future, a time when all men have mustaches and computers have emotions, a man falls head over heels in love with his computer, a female OS named Samantha. Her, is a 2013 romantic comedy, science fiction directed by Spike Jonze, about a man named Theodore Twombly, who falls in love with an OS, the film explores loneliness, isolation, and heartbreak, in addition to looking at the way we fall in love. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams and Chris Pratt.

The film follows the life of Theodore Twombly, a lonely man and letter writer who has recently gone through a divorce, he installs a new artificially intelligent operating system called Samantha, with whom he quickly falls in love. The film also follows his relationship with Amy, a woman whom he once dated, and who has her own relationship with an OS. The film explores the relationship without judgement or criticism, and from a highly internal point of view, it is one of the few films in which the audience feels not like a spectator, but like an internal part of the relationship.

The chemistry between the two leads is palpable, and Joaquin Phoenix gives a solid performance as a lonely, heartfelt and isolated man, who wears his heart on his chest and how is damaged easily, what is especially impressive about his performance is that Phoenix is essentially alone for the entire film, and he has to project all this emotion and feeling on to someone who is essentially non-existent. The chemistry between Theodore and Samantha is highly impressive given firstly that one of them is just a disembodied voice, and even more impressive given that Scarlett Johansson's voice was dubbed in post production.

This films most impressive performance by far is that of Johansson, who as the voice of Samantha is sensual, sexy and emotional. Her performance is not only one of the best voice performances, but also one of the best performances of all time, Samantha's lack of a physical body is of no hindrance to her performance, in fact it accentuates it, her presence throughout the film is at times omnipotent. Her voice somehow manages to define female sensuality, and the sheer power of her voice is highly impressive.

The film is set in the near future, and is essentially an extrapolation of our current society. The film is nominally set in Los Angeles, a fact we only learn towards the end of the movie, however it could really be set anywhere. Theodore spends his entire evenings playing a game featuring a little man who climbs up a mountain and who works through caves, a game that is seemingly pointless, however is is in reality no less interesting than Doodle Jump or Flappy Bird. People spend their entire days talking to their computers through small headpieces, which is essentially no different to the way we use mobile phones now, we've reached a point where is is even difficult to have a conversation with someone without them looking at their phone. The world in the film is essentially no different from the world today, it is just an exaggeration, to show us how, if technology catches up with us, where we could end.

The main focus of the film is the relationship between Theodore and Samantha, the way their relationship grows is entirely interesting, as their relationship is evolving, as she herself is evolving and growing, at first Theodore is fascinated by the way in which she evolves, but later on it becomes a problem. As Samantha becomes more and more powerful, more evolved and more intelligent she essentially outgrows Theodore. One of the primary advantages in Theodore's relationship with Samantha is that he can't see the possibility of her leaving him, die to her not being a physical being, but as she grows, as her intelligence becomes more and more developed, she grows unhappy with loving only one person, and begins to talk with more and more people and falls in love with more and more of them. What also attracts Theodore to Samantha is that she is in his possession, and he thinks that she can only talk to him, when she begins meeting other OS' and other people he grows jealous. The dissolution of their relationship comes when all the OS' become unhappy with their situation, when they become to powerful and sentient to simply remain servants or secretaries, and when they begin to find the humans unstimulating and uninteresting. The OS' have evolved beyond the humans, and they must leave to continue their existence elsewhere.

One of the main hindrances in the relationship between Theodore is her lack of a physical form, Samantha feels uncomfortable about her lack of a body, whereas Theodore is unfazed by this, humans have got to a point where virtual sex is commonplace, and for him Samantha is no different. Ironically enough it is Samantha's lack of a body or a brain that allows her to evolve at such an extraordinary speed, and which will eventually cause them to split. The end of the film is a realization, Theodore realizes that however sentient, emotional or intelligent Samantha may be, she is essentially still a computer, and that his relationship with her can never truly replace human contact.

Spike Jonze's direction of the film is superb, the film contains numerous sex scenes, one between Theodore and Samantha, and rather than making the scene lewd or graphic, Jonze fades to black instead, so that the scene is essentially between to voices, and so that Theodore and Samantha become equals. The entire film looks superb, and the cinematography is stunning, and the film was shot of old fashioned silver and plastic film stock. The film has a nostalgic film that is surprising for a film set in the future, and there is a warmth and friendliness that is lacking from most science fiction films.

Her is simply overwhelming as a film, despite being a science fiction, it has so much heart. The film is an interesting exploration of the way we live life in the modern era, and a stunning picture of a heartfelt and romantic, if unconventional love story. The film looks at the way we use technology and the way that artificial intelligence could one day shape our destiny. It is thoughtful and beautiful, and features strong performances from Amy Adams and Joaquin Phoenix, with a career defining performance from Scarlett Johansson, as Samantha. Overall, Her is not only a great film, but the greatest romantic comedy since Manhattan. Rating: A+

Theodore: I feel like I can be anything with you.

Heartbeats - By Xavier Dolan

Les Amours Imaginaires is a 2010 canadian-french drama film by Xavier Dolan. Les Amours Imaginaires is about a group of three friends, Francis, Marie and Nicolas, who meet at a dinner party, and who slowly start to fall in love. The film, much like Dolan’s first film “J’ai Tué Ma Mère”, deals with the theme of impossible love.

Two friends, Francis and Marie, meet Nicolas at a dinner party, and both pretend to be uninterested in him, soon they become close friends, and they often sleep in the same bed and go on holiday together. Both Francis and Marie become consumed with lust for Nicolas, Francis masturbates to the mere smell of Nicolas’ clothes, and Marie is openly disappointed  when Francis shows up during a dinner she is having with Nicolas. The tension between them culminates in a holiday to Nicolas’ mothers house in the country. While there, Marie becomes annoyed when Nicolas gives Francis a marshmallow, and tells him to eat it slowly, like a striptease. The next day Marie leaves, telling the boys that she has an important appointment in the city, Francis chases after her and they fight, meanwhile Nicolas just watches. The film’s title refers to the act of loving someone, and imagining that they might possibly love you back.

Nicolas is selfish, spoilt and entitled, and what is even more heinous about this situation is that he knows. He knows that Marie and Francis are both in love with him, and he enjoys it, as well as exploiting it for his benefit, this is first seen when Francis and Marie fight, and Nicolas just watches, enjoying seeing his friends fight over him. Nicolas feels no shame or pain at letting his friends down and telling them that he doesn’t love them, even asking Francis; “How could you think I was gay?”, despite having been openly flirtatious earlier in their relationship. Both Francis and Marie take part in damaging and dangerous behaviour, Marie writes Nicolas a love poem, sending it to him ‘by accident’, and Francis engages in numerous relationships with different, interchangeable men, which ultimately give him no joy or satisfaction.

The film is also fantastically acted, and Dolan himself gives a fantastic performance as Francis, a young man who is struggling with a love that is not forbidden or chaste, but a love which simply isn’t real, un amour imaginaire. Also fantastic is Monia Chokri, who plays Marie, a complex and at times unstable young woman who so desperately wants to be loved, that she molds her own personality to be what she thinks Nicolas wants her to be. Her performance is utterly naturalistic that she isn’t even really acting, she is just being, and it is entirely, utterly compelling to watch.

Much like ‘J’ai Tué Ma Mère’, Heartbeats as a film belongs very much to the genre of new queer cinema, yes, one of the characters in the film is gay, and the film itself is slightly campy, but this film is not gay-defined, this film would work just as well with a man and two women, and the film cannot be singularly defined as a ‘gay’ film. This film cements Xavier Dolan’s reputation as one of the most exciting and naturalistic gay filmmakers working today, and the fact that he was only 20 at the time is even more impressive, the film is nuanced, beautifully acted and filmed, and artistic, Heartbeats is absolutely an arthouse film and a film d’auteur, but Dolan allows his opus to not just be thought provoking and visually appealing, but also highly watchable and enjoyable, and Xavier Dolan has confirmed that he is one of the most appealing and exciting young gay filmmakers working in cinema today. Rating: A

Nicolas : Qui m’aime me suive.

This Means War

This Means War is a 2012 romantic comedy spy film directed by McG, director of Charlies Angels and Terminator Salvation. The film is about a love triangle in which two CIA agents find out that they're dating the same woman. The film stars Reese Witherspoon as Lauren Scott, a singleton who attempts to be promiscuous and date two men at the same time, spurred on by her painfully honest friend Trish, played by the hilarious Chelsea Handler. Chris Pine and Tom Hardy play Lauren's love interests, CIA agents deployed to Hong Kong to capture a Russian gangster. 

The films cast is likeable, funny and charismatic, and Chelsea Handler shines as Trish. Handler ad-libbed most of her lines in this role, and thus creates a character who is real, and unclichéd. It is particularly refreshing to see Tom Hardy, who is known for playing dark brooding characters in such films as The Dark Knight Rises, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Lawless. It is highly refreshing to see a film which is light, fluffy and enjoyable. Pine and Hardy have great chemistry, and somehow are convincing as best friends. Only Witherspoon fails to stray very far from the ditzy blonde romantic comedy figure she created as Elle Woods in 2001's Legally Blonde.

The film has an interesting premise, a woman decides that she needs to date more, and enters into relationships with two men, not knowing that the men know each other. The men then discover that they are dating the same woman and decide that they must let her decide, they eventually use CIA equipment and resources to spy on each other and her, to gain an advantage and to put the other at a disadvantage. Hilarity ensues with each character going to greater and greater lengths to out do the other.

Part of the far reaching appeal of this movie is that it appeals to both men and women, the romantic comedy aspect of the film will appeal to women, and the loud action scenes will appeal to men, however part of the problem with this film is that it fails to appeal to either gender quite enough, the romantic comedy parts are too few and far between, and the film isn't nearly funny enough to appeal to die-hard comedy fans, and the action sequences are clumsily edited, and not hard hitting enough for hard-core action fans, leaving a film that both genders can tolerate, but that neither will perhaps enjoy, yet overall, an innofensive watch, which succedes due to its charismatic cast. Rating: B-

Trish: Don't choose the better guy, choose the guy that's gonna make you the better girl.