Enough Said

Finding love was never an easy feat. It wasn't easy when one is young, and it certainly doesn't get easier when one gets older. That was the case of Eva as she goes through life in a familiar routine. She goes to work in the morning and devours her attention to her daughter at her free time, occasionally going out to social events with friends and hoping to run into somebody remotely interesting. She evidently does, in the form of Albert, this honest, carefree divorcee, whom she soon connects with. The problem however, lies in his previous marriage, as Julia finds out that she is dating her new friend's ex husband.

What I thought to be an endearing movie actually had me split into two. On one hand, I really liked the story, and the performances of the actors. However, I found the entire film to be dull. The premise of the film was interesting, as it does put a damper on the relationship. The situation has some sort of realism to it, as there may be a tendency to listen to other people talk about their exes, that the flaws that you usually don't see just reveal themselves. However, there are flaws to the logic as well. While the story itself was interesting, I felt that the film was spreading itself rather thinly instead of focusing on one aspect. There was Eva with Albert and Marianne, and then there's her mother-daughter relationship being strained by her daughter's friend. Along the side, there was her friend Sarah and Will's problems. I thought that the film would have been stronger if Eva's relationship with Marianne was given more focus, considering that they were friends. The movie has its scenes, but none really struck me as memorable. 

A part that I found to be a flaw was that there's a lot of subplot riding on the main one. There's the love story between Eva and Albert, and there are other parts that were thrown in for good measure, so the story sort of diverts between love and finding ones self. While I like Toni Collette as an actress, even if her role was given substance, she was unnecessary to the movement of the story, whether it be on Eva's growth, or her budding relationship with Albert.

What infuriates me about finding the movie dull is that the performances of the leads were quite fitting to the script. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini were good; I could not imagine anyone else playing their roles. They weren't over the top performances, but rather it complimented the tone that the film was going for. I like how their relationship progressed from being awkward to comfortable. Catherine Keener could have had a stronger presence in the film, considering that he was her ex and she and Dreyfus were in a budding friendship but it didn't happen. While familial relations are important to their story, there were still some unnecessary clutter added to the story that it kept the film longer. However, clocking in the time, it barely goes beyond 90 minutes. 

Maybe I wasn't simply in the mood, or was made to enjoy Holofcener's work (no matter how interesting and good they are) but despite the likability of all elements involved, I can't say I fully enjoyed it. Maybe I just read the whole movie in a different light. Either way, Enough Said was good, but sadly it's just not for me. 

Final Word: I loved the cast, I loved the story, but the whole movie wasn't just capturing my attention.

Cast: James Gandolfini, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Catherine Keener 

Director: Nicole Holofcener
Year: 2013