BEFORE: Here's an obvious connection to last night's film's title - I could even go one more and watch "Friends With Kids" next, but that's on PPV for $4.99 and I'm trying to get to what's on my list first. I do usually save romantic comedies and ensembles for February, but I'm sort of bridging a gap here - I've got a plan that will link me to the next topic. Which is aliens (again), so the connection doesn't really seem obvious yet, but we'll get there.
Linking from "Friends with Benefits", Richard Jenkins was also in "Burn After Reading" with Frances McDormand (last seen, briefly, in "Miller's Crossing").
THE PLOT: After she quits her lucrative job, Olivia finds herself unsure about her future and her relationships with her successful and wealthy friends.
AFTER: Pointless, pointless, pointless. Unless the point was to detail the lives of middle-class Americans and show how unsatisfied, unfulfilled and self-absorbed they all are. Really, we should all just tear down our society, pull people out of their homes and give them to people who would really appreciate them. God, is that Occupy Wall Street thing still going on? Because this makes me want to go yell at rich people or something. And if I'm siding with the hipsters and the downtrodden, you know I'm at my wit's end.
Would there be anything wrong with showing one person in this film who was happy? Or, you know, at least content? In its own quiet way, this is reminiscent of a Darren Aronofsky film, where everyone is doomed by their own vices and metaphorically just circling the drain. These people are bored with life and are just waiting to die, which could be even worse.
You know what's depressing? Watching depressed people act depressed. Not a great topic for a film. Look, I'm not asking for much, just for one character with a house and a stable marriage and a few extra bucks to display some sense of satisfaction, or at least a feeling of accomplishment. How many people don't have one or all of those things?
I know, mo' money, mo' problems. But do we really need to see that in a movie, where some of us go to get away from it all? In the end it's not your spouse that will make you happy, or your job, or your possessions - it's up to YOU. Those other things can make you content, or instill you with pride, but you've got to find a way to enjoy your own life. It's too simple to say "Do what makes you happy", but how about "Be happy about what you do"? You probably serve a purpose in the grand design, even if you can't see it.
Go on a road trip. Read a book. Take joy in the little things in life, like hitting on the slots and eating at the casino buffet. Look through some family photos and remember the good times. If all that fails, take some freakin' adult education classes. Or as Warren Zevon famously said, "Enjoy every sandwich." If nothing else will drag you out of bed and cheer you up, remember that somewhere out there in the world are delicious sandwiches.
And to Darren Aronofsky, Todd Solondz, Neil Labute and whoever wrote + directed this, that goes double for you guys. Please, for the love of God, lighten the fuck up. Have you thought about making light comedies? People really seem to like them.
Also starring Jennifer Aniston (last seen in "Marley & Me"), Catherine Keener (last seen in "Where the Wild Things Are"), Joan Cusack (last heard in "Toy Story 3"), Jason Isaacs (last seen in "Windtalkers"), Simon McBurney (last seen in "The Manchurian Candidate"), Greg Germann (last heard in "Bolt"), Ty Burrell.
RATING: 3 out of 10 parking spaces
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