YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS (director: Neil LaBute; cast: Aaron Eckhart, Amy Brenneman, Ben Stiller, Catherine Keener, Jason Patric, Nastassja Kinski 1998)
LaBute's film is tough to watch, it seems to be more suitable for the stage, and it is not written for wide audience appeal. It is a story of the "me only" generation, who inhabit a stylishly fashionable world. The characters are self-absorbed, greedy, and uncaring. They are consumed by sex; sex as a power tool for their self-gratification and esteem. The dialogue is trivial, these characters have little to say, even about what is consuming them, even though they talk about sex every chance they get, whether exercising, eating in a trendy restaurant, or in bed. These 90s characters vaguely remind me of the protaganists in earlier films, such as BOB,CAROL, TED, AND ALICE and WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF, though these characters are not as amusing or witty. Their coldness is disturbing, and the framed shots and dialogue of the film is so successful in capturing this mood, that the film becomes wearisome and is not a particularly appetizing one. It is safe to say, that this is not recommended as a date movie!
Aaron is the financially successful corporate man who is sexually unsatisfied by his attractive wife (Amy). He says masturbation is his best form of sex. Amy is cast as the sexual object, who attracts all of Aaron's friends, as she tries to work out her sexual problems. Ben is the thespian/professor, living with his girlfriend, the dykish Catherine, who only enjoys sex when there is no talking, she is only interested in her self-gratification. Ben is the one who has lost track of his integrity, and appears to be pompous and untrustworthy.
Kinski is the museum worker who becomes Catherine's lover. She is a tough fit in this story line, since her character is undeveloped. In any case, she meets all the characters in the story through her job in the museum, and might even be considered the "nice one," but I think that is a bit of a stretch, no one is really nice in this film.
There are all sorts of sexual triangles going on among the couples, as each one plays out his hang-ups. For one, sex is a means of practicing his proficiency as a macho man, like it was a game; for another, sex is a means of finding self-worth.
It is tough to critique this film fairly, mainly because it is not meant to be an entertaining film, as much as its aim is to be an in-your-face type of drama. But what it lacks, is the necessary depth it would need to qualify it as a penetrating drama. Nevertheless, it must be commended for its rawness and honesty to subject matter. Therefore, viewer beware, what you see is not pleasant, and what it means to you depends on whether or not you find that this bitter portrayal of relationships, is one you agree with, or one that is so one-sided in its perverse view, that you might feel intellectually compromised by it.
If you see this film on a date, then it might be a good idea to go for few drinks afterward to talk about it and, hopefully, you don't have the same bitterness to your partner that these characters do.
It might be of interest to note that LaBute is, of all things, a Morman... uhmmmm!
REVIEWED ON 10/20/98 GRADE: C+
Dennis Schwartz: "Movie Reviews"
ozus@sover.net
http://www.sover.net/~ozus
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews