Your Friends & Neighbors (1998)

reviewed by
Chad Polenz


Your Friends And Neighbors 
*** (out of 4 = good) 

1998, R, 100 minutes [1 hour, 40 minutes]

[drama] 

Starring: Ben Stiller (Jerry), Amy Brenneman (Mary), Aaron Eckhart (Barry), Catherine Keener (Terri); produced by Steve Golin, Jason Patric; written and directed by Neil LaBute.

Seen September 5, 1998 at 10 p.m. at the Sony Nickelodeon Theaters (Boston, MA), theater #2, with Matt Perreault for free using my Sony/Loews critic's pass. [theater rating: **1/2: okay seats, sound, and picture]


Modern society is now inundated with more sex and sexuality than it ever has been before, from teenage sitcoms to NC-17-rated films about fetishes. The biggest debate of the subject is whether or not it affects reality or just reflects it. "Your Friends And Neighbors" takes a different approach as it's a film that revolves almost entirely around sex and how can be used for both pain and pleasure even within a small circle of friends.

One of the most important aspects of the film that most be noted and analyzed before the film can really be dissected as a whole is writer/director Neil LaBute's basic setup and some of the unique methods he employs to tell the story. Firstly, and most importantly is the fact the script tells a rather complex, detailed story of lust, betrayal, arrogance, hypocrisy, greed, and just plain stupidity between six different characters (three men, three women), without hardly any supporting characters, (a few have a line or two), mostly extras. Everything they do will somehow affect another character and ultimately come full-circle back to themselves, whether it be positive or negative.

But to just state this is arbitrary, and explaining and criticizing the process is difficult. LaBute's ability to tell his story through a few characters is a remarkable feat, but what's specifically impressive is the fact the characters' names are never revealed until the end credits roll. For the sake of this review, I will describe the characters and refer to them as their main characteristic. Another interesting accomplishment is the fact every scene takes place inside with limited focus. We're always able to tell where the characters are (someone's home, the gym, a restaurant, hotel room, etc.), but what the city they live in, what year it is, what the society is like, etc. is relatively unknown. The film is a complete character study with the tight, intense drama of the theater.

No one plot dominates the story, which makes the first act a bit tedious for its lack of background. We're simply dropped in on the characters' lives and are expected to figure out the rest. The characters are a group of middle-class white people who are all successful at what they do, but they're only concern right now seems to be their sex lives.

First there's Barry (Eckhart) and Mary (Brenneman), a married couple who are going through a dry spell not unlike many other couples in other situations who don't know what they're problem is. Barry is kind of a dorky businessman who loves his wife, and the sex they have, but doesn't have a lot of ambition - he just follows everyone else. Mary is a writer of some sort, but lacks aggression and emotion like her husband and is the meekness character, but ironically, doesn't hesitate to commit adultery just to feel something. LaBute's script does a good job in characterizing Mary and Barry as individuals, but is very light on chemistry and connection between the two. Obviously, this is the theme, which is enhanced by the actors' good performances, but at the same time seems just a bit hollow.

Another couple is Jerry (Stiller) and Terri (Keener) who live together and seem to have been involved with each other for a long time, yet they constantly argue over anything and everything. Their sex life is also fraught with problems and for some reason they continue to do it throughout their infidelitous relationship. If only one aspect of the film could use improvement, it would be this area. It's natural for a married couple to become bored with each other, but why would two people who can barely stand each other continue to have sex and live together? What did they ever see in the other person to begin with? LaBute never really answers, but since the film is more concerned with the payoff than the process, it still makes for good drama, tension, and manip ulation so intricate and deceitful it's fascinating.

Two other characters act as catalysts, Cary (Jason Patric) and Cheri (Natassja Kinski). Cary is an arrogant, hostile sex-maniac who defines the word "bastard." Somehow he is able to bend women to his will, either through charm or just attitude, into getting his way. He's the kind of guy everyone should stay away from as we realize he's secretly perverted, but somehow Barry finds comfort in his company, although Jerry is always nervous around him. Patric gives an outstanding performance, so much so that we want to know more about him despite how intimidating and unlikable he is. Cheri is a character LaBute uses as a catalyst to see how the other characters react to her. She works in an art museum and at some point throughout the film, each character will engage her in almost the exact same conversation and her reaction is always different, from becoming involved in a relationship with one, to brushing it off as small talk with another, to being outright appalled by yet another. She's a sweet woman, perhaps the most normal of any of the characters, and although her symbolism is obvious, her role as the outsider is the most relatable.

I will not reveal who cheats on who and how each character is specifically affected by the others' action, as that's the hook of the film. The first two acts begin to set up the characters and each's scenarios, but it's often difficult to tell what they will do about it and with whom. The result is sometimes surprising, other times predictable, but the actual course of actions is always fascinating. For a while everyone has their fun, but ultimately each character's guilt, attitude, or ignorance will disserve them.

One of the most important things to note is how realistic the story is supposed to be. Since the characters only interact with each other there isn't much pop culture references, as almost everything has a deeper philosophy behind it. Are we to assume that these people are, as the title states, our friends and neighbors? I don't know of anyone going through the same situations as these people. Often times the film is not unlike a network melodrama, other times situations are like those not seen outside a porno movie. But what this film does have that the others don't is repercussions in the end. Although the film creates its own reality, it goes to show that even the immoral aren't immortal.

In what way "Your Friends And Neighbors" is supposed to work is open to interpretation. It definitely has a lot to say about the price that comes with infidelity, but it could have been even better had it expanded on that theme more specifically. Still, it's an accomplishment in film-making because it has put a timeless theme into a modern perspective.


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(C) 1998 Chad Polenz
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