Lovely & Amazing

Holofcener has got an eye for telling stories about modern-day relationships, particularly the relationships women have with others. Her films are insightful and they even depict an uncomfortable truth about human behaviour and how mean and even cruel people can be without even realizing. 'Lovely and Amazing' focuses on the family Marks, a family of women that include Jane mother of three eager to get liposuction to lose weight, Michelle, the obnoxious, self-involved mean older daughter who has a dysfunctional relationship with everyone, the insecure younger daughter Elizabeth who is a struggling actress and the youngest is ten-year-old Annie, who wants to look like her mother and sisters. These dysfunctional sisters, though never overtly hostile or aggressive with each other, they merely seem to just get along. However, Jane's hospitalization brings them close to each other but in an unexpected way.

Director Holofcener very subtly portrays the tenderness of each character and the intimacy in their relationships. There are no sugarcoated melodramatic spoonfeeding for the viewer. The relationship with the mother is also a key element and the viewer witnesses that each sister has a different bond with her.

I only thought that the portrayal of the men was a bit one sided as all of them are shown to be inconsiderate jerks. However, this is clearly a film about women and Brenda Blethyn, Catherine Keener and Emily Mortimer do a wonderful job. Raven Goodwin does a brilliant job too. Her Annie is perhaps the sum of the personality of her sisters. Of the supporting cast, Aunjanue Ellis and Clark Gregg do a fine job.

In terms of execution, thankfully there's nothing too flashy. The lighting, cinematography, score and editing are fine. Product placement is quite obvious in places. 'Lovely & Amazing' is an insightful look at the relationship between modern day women. The stars of this film are Nicole Holofcener and her actresses.

This charming film is centred on Jane Marks, a woman is about to undergo liposuction, and her three daughters. These are aspiring artist Michelle, whose husband isn't very supportive; Actress Elizabeth who is worried that she isn't sexy enough to get an important role; and eight year old Annie, an adopted African American girl who wants to fit in with her white family.

It might be said that this film doesn't have much of a plot; it is more of a snapshot of a family's life while the mother is in hospital. Each of the four main characters has their neuroses which lead them into various situations; in the case of Michelle and Elizabeth that means getting involved with other people; in Michelle's case somebody much too young for her. The film answers some of the questions raised but leaves others open. The cast does a really fine job making their characters feel real. There are plenty of funny moments, sometimes with a touch of danger such as when Annie floats face-down in the pool in a way that worries people who worries she has drowned... something I recall doing when about that age! Overall I'd say that I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected and would recommend it to anybody wanting a good female led drama with touches of comedy.

This film is about the daily struggles for happiness of a mother and her 3 daughters.

The story is captivating from the start. The mother, played by Brenda Blethlyn, is insecure and wanted a liposuction. The eldest daughter, played by Catherine Keener, has a painfully distant husband. The middle daughter, played by Emily Mortimer, is a struggling actress with high levels of insecurity. The youngest daughter is an adopted daughter of African heritage, and she is spoilt to bits.

The dysfunction between the family is portrayed very well, due to excellent character developments. I get to understand every character's thoughts and feelings. Catherine Keener and Emily Mortimer act well, and brings the characters to life. There are few films that can make the characters so vivid and alive.

Few directors have a firm grip on creating comic works which while making us laugh or smile, also move us deeply. Chaplin's genius was founded on this blend of emotions. When Time magazine's cover labeled Wood Allen "comic genius" it was this same principle they were commending, though his films over the past 20 years would largely disprove this assumption.

Nicole Holofcener's small output prevents making any kind of assumption as yet, but in "Lovely and Amazing" she displays remarkable ability in dealing with the pain people (mostly female) experience in grappling with the issue of self esteem. Throughout the movie and without any lapse, she reveals the comic side of human frailty. We laugh at the characters with compassion rather than derision. It's a feat of great skill and much promise.

Holofcener clearly works well with actors, Brenda Blethyn, Catherine Keener, Dermot Mulroney, Emily Mortimer and Jake Gyllenhaal, all are spot on with their characters. She also elicits a lovely underplayed performance from inexperienced child actor Raven Goodwin.

Holofcener has produced a genuinely lovely film; one that portends amazing things yet to come.

Watchable and inoffensive but hardly likely to arouse intense debate about anything, really. The performances are neat and unshowy, with Catherine Keener reliable as ever as (another) wayward hard-ass, Mulroney playing the roguish fool and Jake Gyllenhaal practising for the role he plays in The Good Girl. But Brenda Blethyn's matriarch isn't given any real depth which has got to go down as a missed opportunity. And since the story is an irrelevance, there aren't enough revelations (in fact, none) amongst the introspective musings and general angst to set this apart from any other female-orientated slice-of-life indie. It all feels a bit like Soderbergh's Full Frontal, only less constipated.