WALKING AND TALKING
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 7.0 Alternative Scale: *** out of ****
United States, 1996 Release date: beginning 7/96 (limited) Running Length: 1:30 MPAA Classification: R (Sex, profanity, mature themes) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Catherine Keener, Anne Heche, Liev Schreiber, Todd Field,
Kevin Corrigan
Director: Nicole Holofcener
Producers: Ted Hope and James Schamus
Screenplay: Nicole Holofcener
Cinematography: Michael Spiller
Music: Billy Bragg
U.S. Distributor: Miramax Films
"I wonder if I'll ever know what it's like to not break up with someone," laments Amelia (Catherine Keener). Meanwhile, her lifelong best friend, Laura (Anne Heche), is about to tie the knot with her beau, Frank (Todd Field). This dynamic -- the relationship between a perpetually single young woman and her soon-to-be-wed soul-sister -- forms the core of Nicole Holofcener's debut feature, WALKING AND TALKING. And, while the two women's romantic entanglements are part of the story, it's the chemistry between them that keeps the film on the right track.
WALKING AND TALKING is real. It's also, by turns, funny, charming, and even a little touching. Holofcener has an ear for dialogue, and, as is often the case with the best character-centered films, a chief pleasure is simply enjoying what the participants have to say to one another. The two leading ladies represent another asset. Anne Heche (one of Alec Baldwin's victims in THE JUROR) and Catherine Keener (LIVING IN OBLIVION) are effective in both comic and dramatic scenes. Each has mastered the knack of giving a completely unforced performance. Once they step into character, they never slip out.
WALKING AND TALKING successfully navigates a minefield of familiar territory. The storyline, which is essentially a slice-of-life, doesn't attempt anything big, but it offers a number of small surprises. Just when you think you know how one romantic entanglement is going to turn out, Holofcener throws in a little twist. That's not to say that the plot is masterful (in fact, it's rather simple), but there's enough there to hold the viewer's interest.
While the meat of the movie is about Amelia and Laura, and the manner in which facing the future forces them to acknowledge unwanted changes in their relationship, there are a few men around. The most prominent is Frank, Laura's intended. Played by Todd Field (RUBY IN PARADISE, TWISTER), he seems to be the rock-solid sort, and it's difficult to say whether Amelia is more jealous of his steadiness or his closeness to Laura. Then there's Andrew, Amelia's screwed-up best male friend. Played by Liev Schreiber (whose last film was DENISE CALLS UP - - this is acknowledged by an in-joke that has Andrew engaged in a telephone relationship), he's a likable neurotic who's addicted to pornography and smells his armpits for comfort. Finally, there's Bill (Kevin Corrigan), the "ugly" video store clerk who tries his best to worm his way into Amelia's heart. And, although he turns her off by laughing at her dying cat and taking her to a nerds-only, horror movie convention, she's the one who places the greatest obstacle in the way of a relationship.
While WALKING AND TALKING is pretty light fare, it's not without substance. Both Amelia and Laura are confused about the future, albeit in different ways. They're afraid of change, even though they recognize it's inevitable, and each suffers from the typical Generation X lack of self-esteem. Amelia sits alone in her room, stroking her cancer-riddled cat and listening to "music to slit your wrists by", and Laura bemoans her career choice, saying that she's not a good therapist because she makes her patients worse. Even though these two don't need each other the way they once did, their mutual importance is still apparent.
WALKING AND TALKING ends by giving us closure without wrapping everything up in a neat package. Because the main characters are both women, the writer/director is a woman, and the themes relate to female bonding, this will inevitably be pegged as a "chick flick." That's an unfortunate appellation, because WALKING AND TALKING has universal appeal. Many of the issues it approaches have less to do with gender than with the simple condition of living in the '90s -- something we are all afflicted with.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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