Wonderful character development!

Brilliant and touching

A Disappointing Continuation

Blistering performances.

First of all, I'm not rich. Never have been, never will be. Everything I've ever achieved, I've struggled to get there myself, as probably most of the world. And I have rich friends, well, not filthy rich, but richer than myself by a good deal. It's a struggle sometimes, seeing them take tons of holidays, or just upgrading vehicles with ease. Therefore, I imagined this movie would be for me-and it is, in a way...but I couldn't relate to Jennifer Anniston's character as, I'm a guy, and married. Also some of the guys she dated infuriated me. I'm sure it's a real situation for others, but none of the characters fit myself. But they were good characters that all felt real on some level. It was nice to see a week in the life of these very different people. I see some other reviewers likened this to a tv series, and I wholly agree. I didn't feel fulfilled at the end with all the different situations, whereas I would have really enjoyed continuing with these characters. Possibly even a serial series that switches characters out every few months-I would love to see stories closer to my own. I'd love to write for such a series. Overall, I'm glad I watched it.

The title serves as the film's warning: this is about rich people with rich-people-problems. Three girlfriends have all of life's advantages, but still they're unhappy. Frances McDormand, in a frighteningly realistic performance, is angry at unfairness in the world. Joan Cusack is afraid her grammar school son might be gay. Catherine Keener bickers with her husband. To less affluent moviegoers, these couples seem impossible to relate to. Enter the fourth friend: a low-class housecleaner who smokes pot, steals expensive moisturizer for self-pedicures, and calls her married ex-lover at home. Believe it or not, that fourth friend is played by Jennifer Aniston, who gives a surprisingly good performance.Through Aniston's character, audiences are given permission to resent the wealthy Friends with Money, and at the same time, wonder what problems they might have if they belonged to that echelon. This is not an uplifting movie, and if you're already in a depressed mood, I wouldn't really recommend it. However, I own this movie, so I obviously like it enough to watch it over and over. Give it a try, when you're not already terribly blue, and see if you like it.

Was it just me or did this movie seem very short? I felt like the plot could have done more but it still was enough to get me thinking. Jennifer Aniston's character was made to seem the most likable, to me anyway which I think is intended, despite her little devious habits on the side like theft and snooping around people's houses during her job. So it was interesting and creepily realistic to think that she, the most humble, unfortunate and yet most physically attractive of all the female characters ended up with the greasy haired socially awkward couch potato because they had the most in common when it came to their honest views and morals compared to everyone else. This movie also displays some raw opinions of aging that moved me and seriously got me thinking about what we should be doing when we are young and where we should be when we are old.

A stinging portrait of four friends fueled by enough angst to bring down even the most self-assured feminist. Writer/director Nicole Holofcener shows various sides of what is essentially the same woman using Jennifer Aniston, Joan Cusack, Catherine Keener and Frances McDormand as her pawns. Aniston is the loser of the group, with delusions of becoming a personal trainer (stepping up from her house cleaning job) and Cusack is the group's wealthy dowager. In between, there's McDormand and Keener, each clinging to decidedly precarious marriages. The actresses are fine with Aniston maintaining the indie cred she captured via THE GOOD GIRL. Keener is terrific as one part of a screen writing couple who blows a hole in her marriage by pointing out her husband's bad breath (it's one of the film's most uncomfortable confrontation and this is a movie with MANY confrontations). McDormand is almost comic as the woman on the verge whose husband may or may not be what he seems...or may be exactly what he seems to everyone else. It's all too shallow to be truly compelling.