Friends with Money (2006)

Friends with Money: Directed by Nicole Holofcener. With Catherine Keener, Jason Isaacs, Timm Sharp, Joan Cusack. After she quits her lucrative job, Olivia finds herself unsure about her future and her relationships with her successful and wealthy friends.

“What a rare delight – to see four talented actresses rising to the challenge of such a smart script. With each additional interesting project that she accepts, Jennifer Aniston edges away from the baggage of that daft and shallow TV show upon which she built her name. Frances McDormand, as a wife undergoing an existential crisis, is grittily beautiful and 100% believable. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI doubt whether most twenty-somethings will find much with which to connect in this film; in fact the message boards seem to indicate that theyu0026#39;re hankering for a u0026#39;plotu0026#39; (u0026quot;Wot? No murder?u0026quot;). Having said that, younger viewers with decent attention spans whose tastes tend toward more stimulating, u0026#39;art houseu0026#39; fare, might well feel rewarded. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe movieu0026#39;s characters are real people with real issues; issues which arenu0026#39;t necessarily wrapped up neatly and tied with a bow by the end of the movie, as is the case in most sitcoms. Their issues are recognisably human, and not the standard, manufactured, Politically Correct ones, such as those didactic u0026quot;gender issuesu0026quot; that are so frequently wheeled out in mainstream Hollywood movies. (How dull that couldu0026#39;ve been…) u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFurthermore, rather than serve up a neat u0026#39;Beginning, Middle u0026amp; Endu0026#39;, the film gives us a sense that the charactersu0026#39; lives and issues continue beyond the scope of the film, and that weu0026#39;ve simply been privy to a slice of their timeline. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe dialogue, which crackles like a pine-cone in a blazing fire, is also worthy of being singled out for praise. While the film isnu0026#39;t a comedy, it boasts some wicked, laugh-out-loud lines. This is a beautiful, sad, funny, and engaging drama for discerning audiences. Bravo, Nicole Holofcener!”