Friends with Money
Drama
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“Friends with Money” is not a very good comedy or drama. In fact the entire movie is dull and a waste of talent.
“Friends with Money” is about three couples and one single woman named Olivia (Jennifer Aniston). “Friends with Money” is a character study revolving around the lives of three wealthy couples and Olivia who can’t find a job or a man she loves. A very dull and unfunny movie ensues…
Watching “Friends with Money” earlier today was an absolute bore. I sat there in the theater just staring at the screening waiting for moments of comedy to happen. I did not find Frances McDormand yelling at people for stealing her parking space or cutting in line at Old Navy to be a laugh out loud riot nor did I find the whole Aaron’s (Simon McBurney) gay subplot funny either. In fact, I don’t think I laughed once during this movie. I think I may have chuckled once during the entire film. To put it nicely, this movie was humorless.
“Friends with Money” shows what it is like to be rich and married and guess what even when you have money, you aren’t always happy. Wow, I guess that whole money doesn’t buy you happiness quote is true. This movie moves along so slowly and tries to focus on too many characters during its short but never-ending 88 minute running time to be effective. The director, Nicole Holofcener, tries to create moments of drama and comedy but yet most of them fell flat. I tried so hard to enjoy this film but I just did not care about anyone involved nor did the film’s story pull me into the movie.
What was up with the product placement in this film? Half of this film felt like a huge advertisement. With the characters going to Bloomingdales, 7-Eleven, AMC Theaters, Old Navy and other places at times I felt like this film was just a big ad. Also there was verbal product integration at the hospital scene when Catherine Kenner says “She hates Old Navy” and Aniston replies with “I love Old Navy!” I hope the director got some funding from Old Navy for this movie with that kind of product integration stuff like that is worth a million dollars nowadays.
“Friends with Money” tries to focus mainly on Jennifer Aniston’s character Olivia who is a depressed woman who can’t find the right job or the right man. She works as a maid, supposedly this is funny, but I don’t know why. She has a problem, we don’t really know what it is, nor does the story try to explain it. I must say that Jennifer Aniston still has not proved to me that she’s a talented actress. I think she is overrated and don’t see what the hype is all about and doesn’t deserve these big paychecks she has been getting lately.
The other characters in the movie are all the rich Santa Monica types. All the actors and actresses including Joan Cusack, Catherine Keener, Jason Isaacs, and Simon McBurney were all good at what little was asked upon them. I must say Joan Cusack played a very good role here but after seeing Keener in “Capote” last year; this film is definitely a step back from her talent. The cast, outside of Aniston and Scott Caan who shouldn’t be acting, all did a good job with what little they had to work with.
I felt “Friends with Money” was going to redeem itself in the end however it just ended with another one of those independent “that’s life” endings. The “that’s life” ending is really a cop-out now and just lets the screenwriter get away with not being able to end his or her movie. “Friends with Money” has the type of ending where you sit there and the credits begin to roll but you just sit there still waiting for a real ending to occur. Sadly nothing happens and in the end, the movie fails not only as a drama and comedy but as a character study as well. I can’t say much that I did like about this film other than the fine cast that was wasted by the weak and boring script. The directing was also very dull and didn’t do much to help this movie move along any smoother. I can’t recommend this film but if you feel you want to see it I would play it safe and wait till the movie is available to rent on DVD because it’s not worth the price of admission at the box office.
MovieManMenzel’s final rating for “Friends with Money” is a 4/10. A talented cast is wasted in this drawn out character study.
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