Your Friends and Neighbors

"Your Friends and Neighbors" is one of those movies which sports a good cast, is well produced, and has few flaws with one HUGE exception. It sucks. Supposed to be a provocative misanthropic study of the politics of sex among three guys and three gals, the characters are obvious fabrications who are doing the director's bidding, behaving in silly and unnatural ways so as to make the flick work...more or less. Some young adults may find a modicum of entertainment in this film. However, those who have been there, done that, will likely find the flick a fraudulent dissertation and much ado about nothing.

YOUR FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS / (1998) ***1/2 (out of four)

"Your Friends & Neighbors" is not really a film about sex, although every single scene, in some form or another, depicts its characters' obsessions with sexuality. The sex is not the subject of the film, but rather a medium for the characters to display various forms of behavior. Through eight very different characters, we realize the differences of behaviors, personalities, attitudes, and various degrees of selfishness. Although wealthy and classy, none of the characters are role model citizens. This is a tricky film to watch, never particularly entertaining, but often curiously involving. The sexual content and strong language will turn many audiences off, but this movie does have a solid understanding of itself, and I honor its art.

Neil Lebute is clearly more interested in the characters' sex lives than in a clear, concise story. Ben Stiller and Catherine Keener play partners. They have good friends, another couple played by Amy Brenneman and Aaron Eckhart. Stiller and Brenneman have an affair. Keener has issues with her partner's verbal expressions during sex-she finds a mate in a female artist's assistant played by Nastassja Kinski. Eckhart is his own favorite sexual partner. Jason Patrick plays a cruel, arrogant womanizer who forces his will on others. Eventually, the characters' selfishness destroys their own relationships. We become infatuated with these circumstances.

Many of the scenes contain a strange, subtle power of intrigue. One of my selection of scenes takes place in an art gallery, where the various characters chat with Nastassja Kinski's character. They have the same conversations, but the scenes end differently. Another fantastic scene is where the three men relax in a steam room and discuss their favorite sexual encounters. Jason Patrick's explanation packs a powerful, disturbing punch. Although these scenes do not necessarily construct a story, that's not a problem. The focus here is the vivid dialogue, the aggressive behavior, and the keen direction. This isn't a movie about a story. It's a movie about behavior.

The characters talk about sex constantly-whether it's in the supermarket, the basketball court, in bed, an art gallery, public restaurants, gym showers, their homes, business places, steam rooms, and more. The movie lacks passion to share with the audience, but we can tell Lebute is passionate about writing these characters. There is constantly an uneasy tension between most of them; they form no chemistry or charisma. He isolates them in their own world so that we can watch the interaction, not the romance.

"Your Friends & Neighbors" initially received an NC-17 rating by the MPAA. It contains very little nudity, no violence, and only a few scenes of actual sex. It received an R on appeal, but perhaps we should examine the association's motives for the higher rating. The discussions of sex in this movie are more vivid, more disturbing, more vivid than any actual act of sex. In a way, the MPAA honored the movie's power. They proved that Neil Lebute's social drama is certainly not for all audiences, and it's not really a great movie, but we should strongly respect the angle and courage.

I gave this movie about 45 minutes and then left. I cannot believe Roger Ebert actually gave this movie 4 stars! It took forever to get going and was painstakingly slow. A more dramatic flair for a very promising plot. Anybody who liked this movie must be comatose!

In this fairly ordinary film the pace drags and the characters get tedious. But there are moments of pure gold, and I enjoyed the frank and explicit sex discussions. But the real gold is JASON PATRIC. Not only does he look great, as always, but he plays the most horrible person I have ever seen in any film. Without a single redeeming feature he swaggers cockily through the film and, somehow, is utterly charming. Ah, the attraction of the devil! His long speech in which he describes his best sexual experience is worth sitting through the rest of the film for - it is both brilliantly acted and written, and I'm sure will become a regular "party piece" for auditioning actors. And that scene in the book-store. Wow! Congrats Jason, I'm glad you did receive some award attention for this role - you should have won an Oscar!

"Your Friends and Neighbors" (1998) is the second film by director/writer Neil LaBute and it tells the story of three couples and their complicated friendships and relationships. I've seen it more than once during the last couple of days - and I found it incredibly clever written, well acted (especially by Jason Patric and Catherine Keener - their only scene together was the second best in the movie - so dynamic and tight) and skillfully directed. LaBute certainly has a very unique sense of humor and he knows well the history of cinema. To give all characters the names that rhyme - Mary, Barry, Terri, Cheri, Cary and Jerry - was a clever idea - the characters are interchangeable in their relationships and it does not matter really, who is with whom - Mary with Barry or with Cary or Jerry or Barry with Barry, and Cheri with Terri or Jerry? The important thing is that they are selfish and often unpleasant and despicable people who are not happy with themselves and can't make happy their spouses or partners. Another interesting trick - the repeating scene in the Art gallery that starts with exactly the same words for each character but leads to different developments. I mentioned that LaBute knows his movies. Have you noticed the poster from Goddard's Le Mépris, (1963) aka "Contempt" with Brigitte Bardot? "Contempt" features one of the most fascinating and longest scenes of a breakup ever filmed. The breakup scene between Terri (Catherine Keener) and Jerry (Ben Stiller) started like in "Contempt" but it only lasted a few minutes and it was a good scene. Actually, I loved all scenes with Catherine Keener and if I have to choose one character that I liked, it would be Terry. Seems that Charlie Kaufman might have seen LaBute's movie because Terry and Maxine from "Being John Malkovich" have a lot in common. I was actually waiting for Terry to say to Jerry, "The thing is if you ever get me, you would not know what to do with me".

Jason Patric was a revelation - I don't know him very well but I remember that he gave a very good performance in "Narc". As for the scene in a steam room, it is not just the best of the film; it is one of the best scenes - monologues ever. I know not many would agree with me but the scene is as powerful, unforgettable and strangely erotic as the monologue in Bergman's "Persona". LaBute's writing, his camera, and mesmerizing performance by Patric made this scene an instant classic.

The film is not perfect and sometimes it drags but overall I found it interesting and enjoyable. You don't have to like the characters in order to like and appreciate the film. Sadly, the beautiful, sensual and talented Nastassja Kinski (Cherri) does not have much to play while Ben Stiller does and I am not his fan - even in this film.

LaBute's usage of "Metallica"s "Enter Sandman" (performed by Apocalyptica) during the opening and the closing credits instantly pulled me in and Bryony Atkinson's song "My Hollow" is terrific.