455. Enough Said (2013)

Starring: James Gandolfini, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Catherine Keener

Director: Nicole Holofcener

Running Time: 98 mins

Enough Said is an American film about a divorced woman who, after finding a new relationship after years of being single, finds that her new other half is in fact the ex-husband of one of her new best friends.

I really enjoyed this film. It was full of good comedy, an interesting and seemingly original storyline, two great central performances, and a heartwarming and comforting atmosphere all the way through, making it a pleasure to watch.

What I was most surprised by in this film was the quality of the comedy. Normally, in your average rom-com, it’s not laughs that you’re expecting, but here, mainly because of the conflicts between the evidently incompatible characters, there was a great deal of funny sparring going on.

I was also impressed by the originality of the storyline. I will admit that the idea that the woman’s boyfriend is her best friend’s ex-husband was a little bit cheesy, but the way in which this film looks at the idea of a new relationship post-divorce in such a realistic, not overly sexualised, way, that any other films do, made it in fact truly fascinating to watch.

The central performances were also fantastic. Julia Louis-Dreyfus pulled off her character’s torn emotions very well, but I thought James Gandolfini, in what was one of his last films, was excellent.

Moving away from the bruiser-type character he plays in The Sopranos, Gandolfini plays the gentle giant very well, who is in reality very sensitive and emotional, unlike what you would think he is on the surface, so the way that the film shows that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover is yet again fascinating to look at.

However, there were one or two issues. Firstly, the ending of the film completely reverted what I thought about the first part, i.e. being original, because it retreats into terrible rom-com territory, and basically ruins the whole atmosphere.

Also, apart from James Gandolfini, there was quite a lack of depth in the rest of the film. I found it quite difficult to really empathise with any of the other main characters, which left me at points bored somewhat.

Overall, I’ll give this a 7.1, because although it was cheesy, it was well-written and on the whole very entertaining to watch.