Friends with Money (2006)

• Review: *** (out of ****)
• Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Frances McDormand, JoanCusack, Catherine Keener, Greg Germann, Simon McBurney, Jason Isaacs, ScottCaan, Ty Burrell, Bob Stephenson
• Director: Nicole Holofcener
• Screenplay: Nicole Holofcener
• Length: 88 min.
• MPAA Rating: R (for language, some sexual content and brief drug use)

Independence is a shared trait. It's hard tobelieve that we all want to be self-sufficient but cling to relationships withfriends and lovers. Human nature dictates that we have someone to share ourlives with. Friends with Money pursues the truth of how autonomous we never really become.

Olivia(Jennifer Aniston) has no money. She started out as a teacher but her inabilityto deal with conflict led her to quit and start cleaning houses for a living.She's decently good at it but money is tight and though her friends haveoffered to give her charity, she believes that she should be able to doeverything she can on her own.

Jane(Frances McDormand) is going through a mid-life crisis. She has a good life anda good marriage but something has gripped her emotionally and she can't seem tolet it go.

Christine(Catherine Keener) believes she's in love but after her husband fails to devotethe attention to her that she feels she deserves, she begins sabotaging herrelationship with him.

Franny(Joan Cusack) has the perfect life. She has a husband who adores her. She'srich. She even has a good head on her shoulders. She is the glue that holdsthese friends together.

Together,they form an unusual group. It's impossible to tell how they became friends aswriter-director Nicole Holofcener assumes the audience will just buy theirfriendship and ignore their sharp contrasts in character. They have nothing incommon. They may have been friends in college, but we just don't know. Withoutknowing, we can't help but feel these four are mismatched.

Helpingtremendously are the talents of these fine leading ladies. Aniston doesn't liveup to her Good Girl success but wesee an actress who's not afraid to break type and play a somewhat atypicalcharacter. McDormand, Keener and Cusack are among Hollywood's great character actors. All fourwork together like a well-oiled machine, as if they were all working on thestage together, even when apart on-screen.

It'snot just camaraderie that make these ladies who they are. They also haveromantic relationships that help develop their character. Olivia hasn't foundherself a man, though Franny does pair her up with her self-centered trainerMike (Scott Caan). The only other man in her life is one of her clients, anoverweight slob named Marty (Bob Stephenson).

Jane'shusband Aaron (Simon McBurney), whom all her friends think is secretly gay,loves her and their children deeply. Christine's husband David (Jason Isaacs)isn't as touchy-feely as she would like. Franny's husband Matt (Greg Germann)is probably the perfect spouse, proving that their marriage is the only solidone in the show.

Thespouses are so integrated into the lives of these women that all but Aaron findtheir screen time limited to scenes with their wives. Mysteriously, Aaronreceives his own story line of temptation. He meets a gay man who assumes he isas well and later meets a guy who not only shares his name Aaron (Ty Burrell)but also shares his love of fine fashion, wine and other pursuits. Both aremarried but the homoerotic tension is palpable in one scene but nothing happensbetween the two. Oddly enough, the storyline goes no further and ends upscrapped much like the other loose ends of the film.

Holofcener knowshow to write dialogue. On the conversation aspects alone, Friends with Money succeeds. Holofcener perhaps is familiar withStephen Sondheim's musical Company.The film, like the musical, tries to tell several individual stories that sharecommon characters all in varying styles of relationships. Friends with Money diverges wildly from the brilliant musical. Itdescends into confusion by giving pseudo-conclusions to several characters,leaves others unresolved, and then only partly finishes the rest.

Friends with Money wont appeal to manyviewers. It doesn't feature a traditional conclusion and the characters are alittle too self-absorbed to resonate with the audience. There are a lot of goodthings in it but the few bad things weigh it down tremendously.

-Wesley Lovell (May 22, 2006)