You Hurt My Feelings

 

Writer/director Nicole Holofcener

Holofcener with Julia Louis-Dreyfus

YOU HURT MY FEELINGS             C                                                                                    USA  (93 mi)  2023  d: Nicole Holofcener

The whole world is falling apart, and this is what’s consuming you?                                          —Don (Tobias Menzies)

In an era where it’s often hard to distinguish an actual movie from television, as they’ve become one and the same, this leans decisively towards the world of television, never once actually feeling like a movie, more like a sitcom, as there’s nothing cinematic about it and instead seems designed to be seen on a small screen instead of a theater, which does not enhance the viewing experience.  From the maker of Enough Said (2013), starring Seinfeld’s own Julia Louis-Dreyfus and The Soprano’s star James Gandolfini in his final film role, it does not appear that the passage of time has done anything to improve the abilities of this director, though in her films dating struggles have now given way to parenting problems, yet there’s simply nothing imaginative about the story or the way it’s presented, where this just feels like something written exclusively for television, as it’s only mildly entertaining and largely forgettable.  Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in 2023, the premise of the film happens to be that writers tend to be extremely insecure, where the least little criticism can send them into an emotional tailspin that sends them over the edge, questioning their talent and self-worth, always seeking personal validation, revealing our own deeply embedded insecurities in how much we value the approval of others.  Julia Louis-Dreyfus is Beth, a writer who is struggling to follow up on her last effort, which was a somewhat successful memoir about the verbal abuse she received from her father, now delving into the world of fiction with her first novel, which feels much more open-ended, like a world that’s harder to crack, and it’s causing her all kinds of anxiety and self-doubt.  Beth is also a creative writing instructor, leading a small class of would-be writers, encouraging them to read fragments of their work, exploring ideas and materials, where her role is offering creative support, even after she hilariously discovers they have never read her work.  Her husband Don (Tobias Menzies), on the other hand, is a psychotherapist, like Nanni Moretti in The Son's Room (La stanza del figlio) (2001), but finds himself alienated from his clients, whose problems interest him less and less, discovering he is less engaged, where he actually mixes up the personal histories of his patients.  Together, however, they have that happy marriage, part of New York’s middle class in Manhattan, where the city itself is a character that weaves in and out of the storyline.  Raised on the Upper West Side, Holofcener grew up as an extra on the sets of Woody Allen’s TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN (1969) and SLEEPER (1973) before working as a production assistant for A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982) and assistant editor on Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), while her mother Carol Joffe was Allen’s frequent set decorator, and her stepfather Charles H. Joffe was the executive producer for fifty years of Allen’s films, placing her smack dab in the middle of a burgeoning New York City arts scene, where she was taught by none other than Martin Scorsese at Columbia University’s film school.  Much of Holofcener’s work has a realistic yet satiric style, most of it shot on location, where she seems to have built a career around superfluous characters and stunted emotional growth, creating a comedy of manners that examines the lives of the upper middle bourgeoisie, often intellectual, and from a female perspective, making seven features, though most of her work has come in television. 

While Holofcener likes to complain that nobody has seen her films, with critics suggesting that not much happens in her films, which may be filled with “little daily dramas,” or what Beth describes as her “little narcissistic world,” and while plot may not be her strong suit, much more focus is spent on character and dialogue.  Still, much like the central character in this film, she may have insecurities about her work, where the things people say matter, though in the bigger picture she may overlook much of the criticism, but when it comes from her inner circle, that makes all the difference.  Julia Louis-Dreyfus is one of the most successful comedic actresses in television history, bringing a silliness, a quirkiness, and most of all an intelligence when it comes to her screen roles, blending emotional authenticity with a heavy dose of irreverence, with Holofcener writing the part with her in mind.  While Beth is comfortable visiting bookstores, she has a habit of trying to move the location of her books into a more prominent position, offering greater accessibility to the public, which is viewed as small-minded and petty, thinking exclusively of herself, showing little regard for the other authors.  And though she has painfully been going through the rewrites on her novel, she is disappointed to learn that her publisher believes it is still in need of many more rewrites before it’s ready for publishing, immediately thinking of herself as a failure, second guessing her every move.  Her 23-year old son Eliot (Owen Teague) is a budding playwright, feeling the pressure of having a writer for a mother, unable to realize his own writing ambitions, so he works in a low-key job as a store clerk in a cannabis store, which causes his mother endless worry, as it attracts a fringe element of lowlifes and derelicts, where the lone security guard looks asleep half the time.  Beth’s sister Sarah (Michaela Watkins) is an interior designer, but faces constant rejection from demanding upscale clients, spending her days scouring the Upper West and East sides searching for just the right products, where the callousness of her clients matches the tastelessness of their choices.  Her husband Mark (Arian Moayed) is a budding actor who never seems to find work, always on the verge of professional failure, but he hangs around the fringes of the industry hoping something falls his way.  What seems apparent, however, is that everyone is suffocating from their own mediocrity.  A common thread is watching a cyclical rotation of Don’s patients, none of whom seem to get any better, perhaps best represented by real-life married couple Amber Tamblyn and David Cross in the first time they’ve appeared in a film together, who hold little love for each other, yet are inseparable, as they can’t live without complaining about their partners.  A familiar refrain that runs through this picture is an utter dissatisfaction with their work, which has a way of feeling existentially soul-crushing, mirroring the anxieties they feel about growing older, as they’re not as young and cute as they used to be, where small satisfactions loom larger, yet they can’t shake the fear that impending mortality lies around every corner.  

What really sets the wheels in motion, however, is Beth accidentally overhearing a discussion between Don and Mark, where her husband honestly confesses he really didn’t like the latest work she’s written, which hits her like a ton of bricks, as he’s been her staunchest supporter.  They’re the kind of married couple that finishes each other’s sentences, sharing one another’s food, even licking from the same ice cream cone, which drives their son nuts, finding it disgusting.  Considering the reliability of the source, feeling utterly betrayed, she falls into a depression, turning a cold shoulder, avoiding him like the plague, but refuses to share what’s on her mind, instead allowing it fester, growing passive-aggressive, where she just grows angrier and more indignant.  Her entire relationship is shaken, not knowing who to trust anymore, as the foundation of their marriage has suddenly been exposed as a lie, losing all sense of equilibrium.  None of the characters are fully developed, feeling more like caricatures, yet they continue to utter smart-assed remarks for comic value, feeling very hit or miss, where the only one in the entire film that feels real is Beth’s aging mother Georgia, played by the great Jeannie Berlin, daughter of Elaine May and so powerful in Kenneth Lonergan’s 2011 Top Ten Films of the Year #2 Margaret, as her dialogue never feels forced or couched in comedy, sounding very much like a proud Jewish mother who wants the best for her children, even as they’ve grown into fledgling adults, still filled with the same insecurities and deficiencies they had in childhood, but they’ve also developed much greater intelligence and talent.  She’s insistent that Beth’s publisher hasn’t done a good job marketing her book, urging her to seek out another, convinced that her daughter is a great writer.  And she could easily be, but you’d never know it, as none of the characters are internalized or self-reflective, feeling very surface level, where the film is a series of incidents that only exacerbate the differences and commonalities between us, where the things that drive us apart also bring us together, where there’s a thin line between love and hate.  Julia Louis-Dreyfus is the center of the picture, with everything revolving around her, and, as always, she’s commercially appealing, observant of those around her, like a stand-in for the director, where this single incident has made her question everything in their relationship, dredging up the past, where suddenly everything is seen in a new and different light.  Everyone feels the need to be valued, in all aspects of our existence, where doubt, or silence, upsets our feelings.  A film about trust, lies, and the things we say to the people we love most, where encouragement is not always supported by the truth, oftentimes hiding our true feelings with little white lies, yet offering our full support, irrespective of how we feel, is what matters most, as we want the best out of those closest to us.  None of this is revelatory or earth-shaking, or particularly profound, but it’s ensconced in a feel-good air of white-privileged, middle class contentment.

Café Society

CAFÉ SOCIETY       B-            
USA  (96 mi)  2016  d:  Woody Allen                Official site [France]

While Woody Allen has traveled the world making films, taking his talents to London, Barcelona, Paris, and Rome after earlier affirming his existence in his hometown of New York, this is his first venture into the glamorous world of Hollywood on the West Coast, previously foreign territory for this director and a place he adamantly refuses to visit when they’re handing out Academy Awards.  Appropriately, he bathes this venture in a golden hue of the past, featuring the exploits of cinematographer extraordinaire Vittorio Storaro, notable for the ravishing look of The Conformist (Il Conformista)  (1970) and APOCALYPSE NOW (1979), though shot digitally this time, creating a nostalgic tribute to a golden era of Hollywood, much as he did to Paris in Midnight in Paris (2011).  Marking the third time an Allen film has opened the Cannes Film Festival, the event was met with an article penned by Allen’s own son Ronan Farrow (though some believe Frank Sinatra may be his biological father) in The Hollywood Reporter, May 11, 2016 (My Father, Woody Allen, and the Danger of Questions Unasked (Guest ...) reminding the world about the lingering sex abuse allegations made by his sister Dylan, claiming Allen molested her in 1992 when she was just seven years old, damning accusations that should appall the world, charges that Allen has vehemently denied, yet somehow he remains free to pursue his own interests as criminal charges were never filed due to the fragile state of the victim who remained traumatized afterwards.  Dylan revived her accusations in a letter to the New York Times February 1, 2014 (An Open Letter From Dylan Farrow - The New York Times), which was followed by a strong rebuke by Allen a week later, Woody Allen Speaks Out - The New York Times, and a summation of the charges in an article by Maureen Orth in Vanity Fair, February 7, 2014 (10 Undeniable Facts About the Woody Allen Sexual-Abuse Allegation ...).  While there may never be a resolution to this matter, it leaves behind a moral stain that will always be associated with this director, where some refuse to see his films, as evidenced by this Melissa Silverstein article written for The Guardian, May 12, 2016 (Why I won't be seeing Woody Allen's new film | Melissa Silverstein ...).  Actors working with Allen have to come to terms with this issue when deciding whether or not to work with him, as Rosie O’Donnell for one has refused to work with him, though she was the initial choice for the lead in SWEET AND LOWDOWN (1999), yet so far, he has always had the cream of the crop at his disposal, with premiere artists literally flocking to work with him.  Nonetheless, this murky past figures prominently in each and every Allen film, especially when the films themselves push the boundaries on moral transgressions, perhaps inadvertently exaggerating the nature of the offense, creating extremely uncomfortable moments for the audience that exist with no other director.  How ironic, then, that Allen is a comedy writer, as there is an underlying element of personal tragedy linked throughout all his works that might more accurately be described as Greek tragedy. 

Another mixture of comedy and pathos, Allen himself at age 80 voices the inner narration heard throughout, the first instance since RADIO DAYS (1987), though he’s not immediately recognizable, as one of the weaknesses of the film is the hollow sound quality of the narration itself which sounds as if recorded in a tunnel.  Nonetheless, it’s always a pleasant experience to hear Allen voicing his own films, and not just have various characters essentially assume his voice, as the autobiographical description reflects his singular wit and humor, especially as he introduces new characters in the film.  Opening in the Bronx during the 1930’s, the exact circumstances of Allen’s own birth, accompanied by the upbeat jazz riffs of Vince Giordano’s The Lady is a Tramp - YouTube (3:50) and Benny Goodman’s I Didn't Know What Time It Was - Benny Goodman - YouTube (3:19), one would have no recollection that we’re right in the middle of the Depression as Bobby Dorfman (Jesse Eisenberg) grows weary of his bickering parents, as he’s fed up working at his father’s jewelry store and leery of going into business with his older brother Ben (Corey Stoll), a rumored gangster who always brings home a fistful of cash, whose trigger happy inclinations serve as comic relief, while his constantly complaining sister Evelyn (Sari Lennick) is already married off to Leonard (Stephen Kunken), a serious-minded, professorial New York Communist Jew.  Naïve and optimistic, yet wanting more out of life, he seeks the big dreams of Hollywood, where his mother Rose, Jeannie Berlin, daughter of Elaine May and so powerful in Margaret (2011), calls in a favor from her Hollywood hotshot brother Phil (Steve Carell, originally slated to be Bruce Willis, but he was quickly fired), a hugely successful agent to the stars (who never utters a sentence without namedropping an A-list celebrity), hoping he can find Bobby a job.  Amusingly, Phil surrounds himself with luxury, constantly traveling and attending swanky parties, remaining so tied up with work that Bobby continually gets the brush off, as it’s literally weeks before he can even get an appointment.  When he does, the office is so huge that families of ten could live inside it, suggesting his ego is even more inflated.  Taking him under his wing, he introduces Bobby to his secretary Vonnie (Kristen Stewart) and instructs her to show him around town, turning this into a period costume drama bathed in a continuous stream of jazz music.  Noticeably brighter from the constant sunshine, the mood of the film elevates as well, as the two kids aren’t particularly impressed by the wretched display of extravagant wealth in Beverly Hills, preferring instead each other’s company where the is an ease and non-pretentious air about their developing friendship, much as there was when working together in Adventureland  (2009), exhibiting a screwball style of comedy, though she acknowledges already having a boyfriend.  When Phil throws one of those extravagant Hollywood parties at his home, viewed as a mansion among rows of other mansions, Bobby meets some fellow New Yorkers, Rad Taylor (Parker Posey, bubbly as ever), who runs a bi-coastal modeling agency and her husband Steve (Paul Schneider), quickly becoming fast friends.  

While watching movies at Grauman’s Chinese Theater like Barbara Stanwyck in THE WOMAN IN RED (1935) or running to the beach in Santa Monica, Bobby can’t get enough of Vonnie (short for Veronica), falling head over heels, though he’s something of a klutz, while she clings to her longstanding relationship that is a soap opera in itself, remaining so secretive that Bobby hasn’t a clue, exposing a bizarre love triangle where a nephew is competing against his uncle for the same girl, with Uncle Phil promising to leave his wife, but backs down at the last moment, opening the door for Bobby who dreams of swooping her back to New York, thinking they can live in the Village and start life anew.  Riding a rollercoaster of mood shifts and changing allegiances, the gist of it is Phil ultimately changes his mind, leaving Bobby heartbroken when Vonnie chooses him, like it initially plays out in Billy Wilder’s The Apartment (1960) with Shirley MacLaine running away with her boss on New Year’s Eve, similarly referenced here in the final scene.  Limping back to New York with his tail between his legs, he goes into the nightclub business with his brother Ben, who clears any competitors out of the way in ruthless fashion, burying bodies in wet cement, paving the way for an upscale afterhours club called Café Society, a hangout for the rich and famous, including politicians and gangsters, where Bobby schmoozes with the customers while behind the scenes Ben handles the money.  Bobby thrives in this environment with his nervous chattiness, allowed to wallow in his misery while continually meeting new people, with Rad introducing him to a lovely New York socialite, none other than Blake Lively as Veronica (sharing his lost love’s name), a well grounded, beautiful girl who becomes his new companion, eventually marrying her and starting a family together.  What’s perhaps obvious is that no real sparks fly between Bobby and Veronica, while the same can be said for Phil and Vonnie, which is perhaps the point, suggesting they are mismatched lovers tossed a curveball by the winds of fate.  So it shouldn’t come as any surprise when Phil and Vonnie walk through the doors of the club, having traveled around the world in luxury, yet all they can talk about is themselves, becoming the picture of a prestigious upper class, suggesting people change with age, embracing all that she used to ridicule, where the couple’s emptiness and inherent phoniness is completely exposed.  When Vonnie finally has some free time, she spends it with Bobby, reigniting feelings they each felt had passed them by, taking a carriage ride through Central Park that ends with a kiss, with Allen recreating that iconic shot of the Queensboro Bridge in MANHATTAN (1979), New York Architecture Images-Queensboro Bridge, this time without the rhapsodic Gershwin musical score, where if anything, it feels deflating—right place, wrong time.  Like ships passing in the night, they each go their separate ways, only to dwell on their regrets about the one that got away in a poignant final sequence.  As she did in 2014 Top Ten List #3 Clouds of Sils Maria, Kristen Stewart excels throughout by underplaying her character, radiantly lit in each shot, showing a complexity of character, always leaving the audience wanting more, while others are underutilized (Lively), feel miscast (Carell), or don’t really stand out (Eisenberg), yet the concept of Ben the Jewish hit man *is* truly priceless, eventually arrested and given the electric chair, converting to Christianity at the last moment, as unlike Judaism they offer an afterlife, posing the toughest question of all for his Jewish mother, like “Sophie’s Choice,” asking which is worse, his execution or his conversion to Christianity?  While there are zany moments, with Allen hilarious in spots, where his narration especially is greatly appreciated, adding brief insights into Jewish family life, but outside of Stewart’s performance, this is yet another Allen venture that continues to be set in the upper bourgeois world of the wealthy, like a return to Great Gatsby territory, where only the down-to-earth characters ring true.   

Of special note, this is the first Woody Allen film, other than LOVE AND DEATH (1975), without co-executive producer Jack Rollins, the legendary talent agent of Lenny Bruce, Nichols and May, Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Joan Rivers, David Letterman, and longtime manager of Allen for over 45 years, who continued to list him in his film credits even after he retired, but he passed away last year at the age of 100.