News for today's 2018

Captain Phillips: Take-charge thriller

6:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><b><i>Captain Phillips</i> </b></span></span></span></span></span></span><b>(2013) • <a href="http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/captainphillips/" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">View trailer</a></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><b> </b><br /><b>4.5 stars. Rating: PG-13, for dramatic intensity, violence and substance abuse</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b>By <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/12885694730612878577" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">Derrick Bang</a> • </b></span>Originally published in <i><a href="http://www.davisenterprise.com/" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">The Davis Enterprise</a></i>, 10.11.13</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>            <br /><div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some stories are so astonishing, they could only be true; you’d never believe them as plots in a novel.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBpyRHnZMkOY8CoPDwJM3nd2GggU65QB3WT_0QQamnn5kMKDzu1drIHa0-kUuhrj2FSybD9mRdmEtjFLjf51jhxaaFhBIzvoBot6APOM1cLvWA-3xrfcnhkgXYCF4K7oYNODLyOyZ3cQE/s1600/Captain+Phillips+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBpyRHnZMkOY8CoPDwJM3nd2GggU65QB3WT_0QQamnn5kMKDzu1drIHa0-kUuhrj2FSybD9mRdmEtjFLjf51jhxaaFhBIzvoBot6APOM1cLvWA-3xrfcnhkgXYCF4K7oYNODLyOyZ3cQE/s400/Captain+Phillips+blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Utterly helpless at the hands of four heavily armed Somali pirates, Rich PHillips (Tom<br />Hanks, center) nonetheless weighs every option, primarily concerned about the safety<br />of his crew, but also — at all times — seeking a psychological edge that might allow<br />him to outwit his captors.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The credibility-stretching 2009 saga of Captain Richard Phillips and the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama is just such a narrative, and it has become a taut, tension-laden drama in the capable hands of documentarian-turned-filmmaker Paul Greengrass. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thriller fans know Greengrass for his superlative entries in the Jason Bourne series, most notably 2004’s <i>The Bourne Supremacy</i>, by far the best of the bunch. But Greengrass also is the writer/director who uncorked <i>United 93</i> five short years after 9/11, constructing a tense, deeply unsettling real-time depiction of what likely happened that horrible day.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As with <i>United 93</i>, Greengrass’ new film is ripped from disturbing headlines, with screenwriter Billy Ray (<i>Shattered Glass</i>, <i>Breach</i>) adapting the 2010 memoir <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Captains-Duty-Somali-Pirates-Dangerous/dp/1401310443/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381429248&sr=1-1&keywords=a+captain%27s+duty+somali+pirates+navy+seals+and+dangerous+days+at+sea">A Captain’s Duty:Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS and Dangerous Days at Sea</a></i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That book is written by Phillips, with an assist from Stephan Talty ... which does, by definition, dilute some of this film’s suspense. But that hardly matters; to a great degree, Phillips’ ordeal is well known by Americans who sat glued to their TV sets during five days in April 2009. The key point here is that Greengrass depicts this saga with a degree of verisimilitude, and an attention to detail, that border on documentary realism.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Add superlative performances from Tom Hanks and the actors playing his Somali captors, and the result is can’t-miss cinema: You literally won’t take your eyes off the screen.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film opens quietly, as veteran merchant mariner Rich Phillips (Hanks) packs in anticipation of another routine assignment; we get brief face-time with his wife, Andrea (Catherine Keener), but then she’s never seen again. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Which, just in passing, might be a missed bet: Just as much drama unfolded in Vermont, as media crews bird-dogged an agonized Andrea Phillips, while she followed these events ... and I’d love to have seen the impressively talented Keener play that role. Then again, Greengrass may have felt that her end of the saga would have diluted the drama.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><a name='more'></a><br />  <div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Elsewhere, along the Somali coast, gun-toting thugs in the employ of a local warlord descend on the impoverished fishing village of Eyl and demand that its able-bodied inhabitants take to the sea in order to hijack another foreign vessel, the goal — maddeningly successful too many previous times — being to ransom it for millions of dollars. The none-too-subtle point is that these dirt-poor fishermen are caught between a rock and a hard place: mount the piracy expedition, or be shot for refusing.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The faces blend in chaos; it will be awhile before the key Somali players distinguish themselves ... although Barkhad Abdi’s feral, cunning and unexpectedly intelligent gaze makes an immediate impression.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once underway on the heavily laden Maersk Alabama, fully aware that they’ll be traveling through the pirate-infested waters of the Somali basin, a cautious Phillips orders first mate Shane Murphy (Michael Chermus) to put the men through safety drills. The captain/crew dynamic is intriguing, in these early scenes; some of the men clearly respect and smartly obey protocol and the chain of command, while others behave like union-coddled jerks who resent not being able to stretch their coffee breaks.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everybody snaps to attention, however, when their ship’s radar detects the approach of two rapidly moving blips.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What happens next can be divided into three distinct chapters, each guaranteed to surprise viewers not intimately acquainted with this saga. The assault on the Maersk Alabama is riveting, as is Phillips’ crafty response to the crisis; he doesn’t miss a trick, despite having very little with which to work. We quickly come to admire the calm, calculating depth of Hanks’ performance; his portrayal of Phillips — by all accounts, an accurate reflection of the actual mariner — is equal parts unremarkable Everyman and quick-witted master of psychology.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also can’t help being dismayed by the fact that Phillips and his crew are unarmed, and without at least a few trained soldiers; Somali piracy had been a well-established concern for several years by 2009, with every ship’s crew unwittingly involved in a ghastly, ocean-bound lottery. International shipping conglomerates clearly preferred to play the numbers, and risk the odds, rather than spend the money to protect individual ships. The mind doth boggle ... and although Ray’s script doesn’t blatantly name-check this heinous mind-set, the implication is clear.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Actually, Ray’s entire script is a masterpiece of nuanced subtlety, taking its cue from the way Phillips described the pirates in his book (and I’m quoting a <i>Booklist</i> review here) as “alternately conciliatory, vicious and simply not all there.” The latter results from the fact that these pirates are in a constant state of amped-up euphoria/anxiety, thanks to the amphetamine-like khat that they chew in lieu of eating.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To say the least, it makes their behavior unpredictable ... which Phillips recognizes all too quickly.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eventually, the various pirates sort themselves out and only four become involved in the action. They’re led by Muse (the intense Abdi), who regards himself as a fellow captain and playfully insists on calling Phillips “Irish.” Muse is all business: He expects Phillips to call the shipping company, which will contact its insurance carrier, send along a ransom, and allow ship and crew to move along. We sense that it has gone down just this way, at least a few times, in the recent past ... but not this time.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks to Phillips’ cagy machinations — the American captain, at all times, deeply concerned about his crew — the situation quickly escalates out of Muse’s control. Meanwhile, imminent loss of life is a very real possibility, thanks to the instability of Muse’s three companions: the imposing Najee (Faysal Ahmed), with his hair-trigger temper; the taciturn Elmi (Mahat M. Ali), unexpectedly handy as a mechanic; and the youthful Bilal (Barkhad Abdirahman), wholly out of his depth.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All four — Abdi, Ahmed, Ali and Abdirahman — are first-time actors, selected from among more than 1,000 candidates living in the States’ largest Somali-American community, in Minneapolis, Minn. Their performances are authentic — and subtly complex — to an astonishing degree. We simultaneously loathe and pity these four men, and in a way almost admire their utterly insane courage, as they attempt to take command of this huge ship — and, later, defy what seems like the entire U.S. Navy — all by themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But make no mistake: Greengrass and Ray do not sugar-coat these pirates. They’re dangerously ruthless, unexpectedly violent and prone to irrational, drug-hazed behavior; they obviously wouldn’t lose any sleep after killing an American or three. (Well ... Bilal might grieve a little.) But it would be wrong to call them evil; that label more accurately applies to the much-feared Somali warlord Garaad, who orders the assault.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The closest Ray’s script comes to moralizing occurs during a brief exchange between Phillips and Muse, late in game. “There must be more than fishing and kidnapping,” Phillips desperately insists, subtly referencing the fact that Somali piracy grew in response to illegal over-fishing and the dumping of toxic waste in Somali waters, which deprived coastal villagers of their livelihoods.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Maybe in America,” Muse replies, the bitterness evident in his voice.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Max Martini is appropriately crisp and commanding as the SEAL officer who enters the final round of what eventually becomes an ocean-bound circus; Yul Vazquez is quietly efficient as Frank Castellano, commander of the USS Bainbridge, the Navy destroyer initially sent to negotiate a peaceful solution to the mounting crisis.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just in passing — between this film and last year’s <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2013/01/zero-dark-thirty-ultimate-manhunt.html">Zero Dark Thirty</a></i> — Navy SEALS never have looked so good. I fully expect recruitment to take an upward bump.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As always, Greengrass surrounds himself with equally accomplished technicians, starting with cinematographer Barry Ackroyd — Oscar-nominated for <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2009/07/hurt-locker-explosive-drama.html">The Hurt Locker</a></i> — who works impressive magic during difficult night shoots and the confined, narrow hallways of the container ship. The result is solid <i>cinema verité</i> and intensely real.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Academy Award-winning editor Christopher Rouse (for <i>The Bourne Ultimatum</i>) similarly tightens the screws, deftly shifting between the varying perspectives of Phillips and Muse, each a casualty of circumstances. Eventually, this cross-cutting grows to include various Navy personnel, but the narrative landscape never gets cluttered, and the tension never flags.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hollywood often gets rapped, justifiably, for the way factual events are distorted on the big screen. Although Greengrass takes a few dramatic liberties here, he nonetheless distills a significant bit of recent history into a socio-political document that analyzes cultural disenfranchisement, in 134 minutes, far better than any lengthy textbook is likely to do, in years to come. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On top of which, Greengrass also delivers a rousing, suspenseful and thoroughly engaging drama that is certain to garner numerous Oscar nominations, starting with Hanks.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When cynics insists that movies are too commercial to be regarded as art, <i>Captain Phillips</i> is a great way to prove them wrong.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>

Captain Phillips (2013) • View trailer 4.5 stars. Rating: PG-13, for dramatic intensity, violence and substance abuse By Derrick Bang ...

Enough Said: Whimsical ode to second chances

1:00 AM Tukiyooo 0

<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><b><i>Enough Said</i> </b></span></span></span></span></span></span><b>(2013) • <a href="http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/enoughsaid/" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">View trailer</a></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><b> </b><br /><b>3.5 stars. Rating: PG-13, for profanity, sexual candor and partial nudity</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b>By <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/12885694730612878577" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">Derrick Bang</a></b></span></b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>            <br /><div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a sweet little dramedy: the gentle saga of two lonely middle-aged people attempting to establish a second act with each other. Despite taking full advantage of its upper-middle-class Los Angeles setting, Nicole Holofcener’s intimate, conversation-laden film easily could be a stage play, where I suspect it might have more success finding an audience.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9a5twzXS15FZR27RbqK1pveWKn3B6V6RseZ7l3U4J395vQwG40b-GaM9CCLWqDr4fQPtghg5rQX3i22p2Mk2O4tFmQIcJuX12ZM2d8QwlCPpixzkMu0saACJ-RF9KGc_aKWR4FAVAjRA/s1600/Enough+Said+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9a5twzXS15FZR27RbqK1pveWKn3B6V6RseZ7l3U4J395vQwG40b-GaM9CCLWqDr4fQPtghg5rQX3i22p2Mk2O4tFmQIcJuX12ZM2d8QwlCPpixzkMu0saACJ-RF9KGc_aKWR4FAVAjRA/s400/Enough+Said+blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Albert (James Gandolfini) really isn't ready for a new relationship; neither is Eva (Julia<br />Louis-Dreyfus). Somehow, though, not being ready <i>together</i> begins to work. Alas, an<br />unexpected complication is destined to interfere with their growing bond; the question<br />is whether they can survive the fallout.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even during these calmer days of early autumn, with the bombastic summer behind us, films such as <i>Enough Said</i> struggle for viewers.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That’s a shame. Far too few movies explore the quiet isolation of late fortysomethings who worry that life has passed them by: that they’re no longer entitled to the happily-ever-after that once seemed an essential clause in the contract of adulthood. In that respect, Holofcener’s film is refreshing merely by its very existence; that it explores this subject with honesty and candor is a bonus.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Holofcener has based her artistic career on serio-comic examinations of modern American women in crisis, starting with 1996’s <i>Walking and Talking</i>, and continuing with <i>Lovely & Amazing</i>(2001), <i>Friends with Money</i> (2006) and <i>Please Give</i> (2010). She clearly has an artistic rapport with Catherine Keener, who starred in all four of those films, and also has a strong presence in this new one.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But Keener takes a supporting role this time; the central character, Eva, is played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, a strong TV presence — most famously in <i>Seinfeld</i>, currently in <i>Veep</i> — whose big-screen career has been restricted mostly to voicing characters in animated features. That’s a shame, because her wry, self-deprecating shtick is an ideal defense mechanism for her character here.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(That said, a few of Louis-Dreyfus’ comebacks do sound too much like a stand-up routine; Holofcener could have reined her in just a <i>little</i>bit.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eva works as a professional masseuse and has adapted, if reluctantly, to life as a single mother. She remains on reasonably cordial terms with her ex, and has custody of their teenage daughter, Ellen (Tracey Fairaway). We meet Eva during the strenuous routine of an average day, as she schleps her unwieldy portable massage table from one client to the next, obviously deriving no joy from these regular encounters with often self-absorbed people.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But it’s a living, and Eva can take solace from regular contact with best friend Sarah (Toni Collette) and her husband, Will (Ben Falcone). And we sense that Eva has worked hard to derive comfort — if not satisfaction — from her workaday schedule. Unfortunately, that stability is about to be shattered, because Ellen is days away from leaving for college. Eva, her very soul wrapped up in her daughter’s constant companionship, is fraying visibly around the edges.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><a name='more'></a><br />  <div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ellen, anticipating the same separation anxiety, has withdrawn slightly in order to minimize her own pain; this naturally causes her mother to fret even more. The territory here is both familiar and unerringly accurate: Parents always foresee this moment, when their baby birds leave the nest, with a mixture of pride and dread. Louis-Dreyfus and Fairaway are excellent together, displaying both the ease and uncertainty of this mother/daughter dynamic.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But Eva remains a jumble of mixed emotions, her mounting agitation manifesting in nervous chatter and ill-advised attempts at humor. Hoping to distract her, Sarah and Will drag Eva to a party: a ploy that proves unexpectedly successful. Eva first garners a new client, establishing an immediate simpatico bond with Marianne (Keener), a successful poet.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A bit later, Eva meets Albert (James Gandolfini), equally ill at ease in this social setting. Their connection seems so tenuous that it almost doesn’t take; we’re not sure it’ll lead anywhere until the scene shifts to a subsequent first date, Albert embarrassed because even his reservations haven’t prevented an unexpected wait at this particular restaurant, before being seated.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The subsequent dinner is a masterpiece of awkward tension and groaningly awful attempts at conversation; we hope to sink through the floor, not wanting to eavesdrop on such a painful first date (which, of course, merely reinforces Holofcener’s skill at depicting such an encounter). But Eva and Albert also delight in their shared clumsiness: the beginnings of a bond.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The relationship settles; they begin to spend time together. Albert, it turns out, also suffers the angst of a single parent whose only child is about to enter college. But his divorce was anything but amicable, and their daughter, Tess (Eve Hewson), is an entitled, stuck-up snot (a curious detail that never goes anywhere).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marianne, in turn, blossoms from mere client to grateful companion, just as charmed by Eva, as she is by this sophisticated new friend. Unlike most struggling writers, Marianne has made a lucrative career of her poetry, and has become famous enough to be stopped by admiring fans. Eva marvels at her entry into this artistic side of Southern California life, spending time with a woman who casually acknowledges knowing icons such as Joni Mitchell.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right about this point, as Holofcener builds to the end of her first act, we wonder where this story will go. Certainly the characters are interesting, even provocative, but there’s a sense of some hidden shoe waiting to drop. And, indeed, that’s true ... and the arrival of this little hiccup sets the tone for the rest of the film. But you’ll not get that detail here; too much delight comes from its discovery (assuming nobody lets the cat out of the bag, before you see this film).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meanwhile, we’re further occupied by sidebar relationships, most notably the unexpected bond that develops between Eva and Chloe (Tavi Gevinson), one of Ellen’s school friends. At first blush, Chloe appears to be the needy one, finding a comfortable warmth in Eva that she doesn’t get from her own mother. But as an increasingly irritated Ellen more accurately realizes, Eva seems to be nurturing a “substitute daughter” as a self-defense mechanism, a dynamic that Chloe is only too happy to accommodate.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the other hand, the passive/aggressive dance between the overly fussy Sarah and her maid (Anjelah Johnson-Reyes) is simply strange: a bizarre interaction that seems inserted solely to create some artificial tension. Holofcener is similarly erratic about the way she depicts Sarah and her husband; at times, Collette and Falcone are prickly enough that we wonder about the stability of <i>their</i> relationship ... and yet this, too, sorta just drifts off.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Louis-Dreyfus hasn’t had a big-screen dramatic role since appearing in Woody Allen’s <i>Deconstructing Harry</i>, back in 1997; it’s easy to see why he would have been drawn to her brand of angst, which feels right at home in his universe. Eva is similarly insecure here, although such anxieties invariably are buried beneath another of Louis-Dreyfus’ chirpy smiles. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Granted, at times Eva is too quick with a witty comeback — people in real life rarely execute such well-timed retorts — but, in fairness, we also see pain and vulnerability in Louis-Dreyfus’ expression. Eva may smile readily, but the mirth rarely rises to her eyes ... and when it does, usually in Albert’s company, we rejoice at the moment’s sincerity.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gandolfini, playing <i>so</i> strongly against type, is a revelation. Albert is a huge teddy bear of a guy who, in a delightful twist, seems wholly unaware of the advantage his size and strength should bestow. He’s charming but self-conscious, quick to feel injured at a perceived slight ... which occurs fairly frequently, given Eva’s tendency toward defensive, slightly-<i>too</i>-critical jests.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At such moments — Albert’s wounded, gently chiding expression signifying betrayal — we want to just slap her. And hug him.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seeing Gandolfini in such a calmly tender role, and doing it so well, merely reinforces the tragedy of his unexpected death, just a few months ago, at the age of 51. This isn’t his final film — that honor belongs to <i>Animal Rescue</i>, a Dennis Lehane-scripted crime drama more typical of Gandolfini’s usual <i>oeuvre</i>, scheduled for release next year — but it is, nonetheless, a delightful epitaph.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Enough Said</i> displays both the virtues and weaknesses of Holofcener’s various films. In great part, the character interactions are engaging and well handled by accomplished actors who fit nicely into their roles. At the same time, Holofcener’s touch is uneven, her ability to weave a complete tapestry not quite as skilled as the care she takes with individual threads.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>