MOVIE REVIEWS
Friends With Money
Nathan Lim
Whenever driving through affluent neighborhoods like Bel-Air, Westwood, or Hancock Park, I often wonder what goes on inside those extravagant houses. Do they eat caviar and sip premium wine every night? After they spend money on elegant Jacuzzis and top-of-the-line tennis courts, what is there left to do with their money? And are all the wives basically trophy wives?
The answers to those questions may lie in Nicole Holofcener’s Friends with Money, a realistic portrayal about modern life in West Los Angeles.
Obviously not everybody who lives in the “Westside” is wealthy. Olivia (Jennifer Aniston) is approaching middle age; unlike her wealthy and married friends, she is single and meager financially; plus, she works as a maid, dates bad men, and collects free samples of beauty products at department stores. But her friends, despite being financially well-off, are not that stable either.
When the friends and their husbands disperse after a birthday dinner for Jane (Frances McDormand), we see the couples in their respective cars talking abouttheir friends. Christine (Catherine Keener) speculates that Jane’s husband is gay. Franny (Joan Cusack) thinks about asking Olivia to clean her house, an idea which her husband immediately frowned upon. And then there is Jane, who is angry about everything in the world. This sequence rings so true to real life.
I remember Leonard Schrader, my professor in a screenwriting workshop, complaining that Friends with Money has no story. I agree that the film does not have a traditional three-act structure in which a hero overcomes obstacles to achieve a satisfying ending. The characters’ problems in this film are trivial yet truthful. Franny argues with her husband about whether spending $95 on a pair of shoes for their two-year-old is appropriate. Christine and her husband bicker over a second story that they are building on their house. Then there is Olivia, who can’t seem to find the right man.
I enjoyed this film primary because of Holofcener’s ability to breathe humanity into her characters. No, there isn’t any hot, steamy sex, or suspenseful infidelity. Instead, this film is a poignant observation about people who live in these opulent neighborhoods and a poor girl who is friends with them.
The commentary by writer/director Nicole Holofcener and producer Anthony Bregman does not disappoint. They reveal a lot of interesting inside info about what happened during the shooting of the film. Apparently, paparazzi photographers were preying the set and trying to get shots of Aniston, who, during the shoot, had just broken up with Brad Pitt.
So I learned that rich people are like any other people. Some are happy. Some are sad. Some are good. Some are evil. But I still wish I were filthy rich!
