Monday, October 14, 2013

Love Is Wasted On The Old (Movie Review: Enough Said)

Nicole Holofcener's "Enough Said" attempts to answer a couple of age-old questions. First, can love still happen to the middle aged and older? And do you know better that time 'round, or are you so set in your ways that you cannot adapt, you cannot compromise, you cannot bend. James Gandolfini utters a line here that sums up what I think: "You broke my heart, and I have no more time for that shit." As you get older, you have no more time for the mating game, and a lot of times you just don't want to deal. But his character and Julia Louis Dreyfus' give it the old college try here. They meet at a party, and even though they initially are not attracted here, they find that they click. They find that they get each other. (We then ask another old-age question: can love be learned if it's not there at first sight?) Holocener captures the ease and breeze of realizing you are falling in love. And it doesn't hurt that Gandolfini and Dreyfus have combustible chemistry, and give such believable performances here that you root for them at first sight. It feels like they are old friends of yours you never realized were right for each other, but know now that they do. I am that rare breed of someone who never saw "The Sopranos" so I was surprised to see how charismatic an actor Gandolfini is: a subtle teddy bear of a leading man. Dreyfus' neurotic foil is the perfect match - she is one of those rare actresses whose face still registers expression (Please don't succumb to Botox)  There's a sitcom-ish twist that tears them apart, and even though the ending is a little ambiguous, you kind of think they make it work. The cynic in me tries hard to differ, but the romantic in me knows the truth.

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