"Enough said" is Nicole Holfcener's newest work and as with her earlier films, she did not only direct it, but was also involved with the writing, here even completely on her own. Her earlier works usually center on female characters during somehow significant periods of their lives and this one is no different. The main character is played convincingly by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who was rewarded with a Golden Globe nomination for her turn here. Dreyfus has won Emmys in the last two years for her very different work in the TV series Veep and it seems like almost every TV project she touches becomes successful. It's big screen of course, but the same can be said for "Enough Said" and this also has a lot to do with the far-too-early deceased James Gandolfini, who plays her love interest here. I think I even slightly preferred his performance to hers, his cute clumsiness of a man in his 50s falling in love was just sugar-sweet and played a huge role for me why I enjoyed this film so much. I wouldn't say the real drama parts (especially the whole part of hurting him by talking about him to his ex-wife) were bad, but the real heart and soul of the film are the romance and, to a slightly smaller degree, the comedy.
The story can be summarized pretty quickly. The main character meets a new guy and a new female friend randomly at the same time and quickly realizes how the two were married not too long ago. She hears pretty negative stories about him from the ex-wife to nobody's surprise,but has a wonderful time with him that, by no means, matches the stories. When she realized the connection by seeing their daughter with both of them, she starts occasionally asking the ex-wife about her ex-husband to find things out about her new love interest. Of course the whole plot is a huge coincidence, but if you manage not to think about that too much, it's a very enjoyable one-and-a-half hours.
So I'd also like to talk a bit about Gandolfini here. It's so sad he's gone now (and I haven't even seen his magnum opus "The Sopranos") and this is his last (or maybe penultimate) movie. He's deserving of all the accolade he's getting and I'm glad to see him in contention for a posthumous Oscar nomination after getting the recognition from his SAG peers. I'm not sure if I would agree with their decision to consider his performance supporting. It's definitely close to a co-lead I'd say, but whatever they choose, I'd be happy if he gets the recognition by the Academy as well. The interactions between his character and Louis-Dreyfus' are are among the year's best in cuteness, warmth and authenticity and their first kiss scene was maybe the sweetest romance moment I've seen all year. The whole audience during my screening was like oooooooh and aaaaah when they liplocked like two clumsy teenagers.
There's some comic relief with the lead character bonding so much with her daughter's best friend and you could certainly find some drama in there as well when the real daughter comes into play. This "proxy daughter" part was an interesting storyline and worthy addition to the script for sure. It was truly hilarious when the best friend of her daughter enters the bedroom and runs into JLD and Gandolfini's characters and they have breakfast afterward like a real family. "Enough Said" is very much worth watching, especially for couples all ages and it also teaches a great lesson on how truly liking someone is much more powerful than all the flaws or imperfections that special someone may have.
The story can be summarized pretty quickly. The main character meets a new guy and a new female friend randomly at the same time and quickly realizes how the two were married not too long ago. She hears pretty negative stories about him from the ex-wife to nobody's surprise,but has a wonderful time with him that, by no means, matches the stories. When she realized the connection by seeing their daughter with both of them, she starts occasionally asking the ex-wife about her ex-husband to find things out about her new love interest. Of course the whole plot is a huge coincidence, but if you manage not to think about that too much, it's a very enjoyable one-and-a-half hours.
So I'd also like to talk a bit about Gandolfini here. It's so sad he's gone now (and I haven't even seen his magnum opus "The Sopranos") and this is his last (or maybe penultimate) movie. He's deserving of all the accolade he's getting and I'm glad to see him in contention for a posthumous Oscar nomination after getting the recognition from his SAG peers. I'm not sure if I would agree with their decision to consider his performance supporting. It's definitely close to a co-lead I'd say, but whatever they choose, I'd be happy if he gets the recognition by the Academy as well. The interactions between his character and Louis-Dreyfus' are are among the year's best in cuteness, warmth and authenticity and their first kiss scene was maybe the sweetest romance moment I've seen all year. The whole audience during my screening was like oooooooh and aaaaah when they liplocked like two clumsy teenagers.
There's some comic relief with the lead character bonding so much with her daughter's best friend and you could certainly find some drama in there as well when the real daughter comes into play. This "proxy daughter" part was an interesting storyline and worthy addition to the script for sure. It was truly hilarious when the best friend of her daughter enters the bedroom and runs into JLD and Gandolfini's characters and they have breakfast afterward like a real family. "Enough Said" is very much worth watching, especially for couples all ages and it also teaches a great lesson on how truly liking someone is much more powerful than all the flaws or imperfections that special someone may have.