Some 90’s ass s***.
First of all, not a single person pictured on this movie poster (Catherine Keener, Liev Schreiber, and Anne Heche) resembles anything close to how they appear in the movie. When was this promo shot taken? When did Liev Schreiber ever have hair like Christian Slater? Are we sure that even is Anne Heche? This poster doesn’t represent the actors or the plot.
Not that there is much of a plot. That is, there isn’t really a reason for anything to happen. It’s not a bad thing, there just isn’t some tragedy that sets of a string of events that radically changes everyone’s life (with the exception of poor Mr. Jeans). You’re just sort of watching people exist. The first 10-20 minutes or so of this movie made me think about Clerks, and I’m sure there is an abundance of other quirky 90’s films made around this same time that carry the same people-watching vibe. Of course, it helps if the characters are interesting and/or likable. Were Amelia (Keener) or Laura (Heche) those things? Amelia more so than Laura, for sure, but that could be residuals from my crush on Keener in Being John Malkovich. Maxine Lund FTW.
Not that either of them are downright terrible. Amelia and Laura were life-long pals, and roommates until presumably very recently, when Laura moves out to be with her boyfriend, leaving Amelia and Mr. Jeans behind. Life happens, the two best friends sometimes take each other for granted, sometimes they keep secrets, or say things without thinking. That’s really the whole movie. Perfectly normal people (as normal as characters portrayed by the lovely Keener and Heche could be).
As for their male counterparts, Bill, played by Kevin Corrigan, is a magnificent human, and I was absolutely thrilled when things worked out differently for him than I expected. All the male characters in this film are puppy dogs, but the heartbreak they suffer isn’t inflicted upon them with malice or evil. Things like this just happen to you when you’re 20-something, fairly normal, and navigating dating. Who can’t relate to that?
There were three occasions in this film where I though for sure that these two ladies were about to break girl code, but it never happened. I guess that makes the film seem like a drag, but it really just made me root for them harder. I found myself liking each of them more as the film went on. Amelia was more interesting than Laura, I think because her arc is more fleshed out. Amelia and Andrew (Schreiber) are exes that have become genuine friends, but there is also a Rob Gordon/High Fidelity vibe between them. Amelia can’t figure out why Andrew broke up with her and why Bill won’t call her back, and those dilemmas were my favorite parts of the film.
Laura’s arc happens way too fast, and it doesn’t even start until halfway through the film. Once Laura gets engaged, her fiance seems to instantly start disliking her, and the disdain is mutual, but we never see what changes between them. They just start hating the same things they liked about each other before.
Spoiler alert: There is a happy ending.
A Fool Speaks Loudest 