★★ ★ ★ 1/2 out of 5
I don’t quite know what to say after seeing “Enough Said.” It just sounds like the end of a conversation when there is so much to talk about.
Eva (Julia Louis-Dreyfus from Veep) is divorced and spends her days massaging people and listening to them gripe about everything. She ignores most of it until she realizes her newest client is the ex-wife of the guy she is dating, Albert (James Gandolfini from The Sopranos).
Albert is “not attractive in a typical way,” as Eva puts it, but he makes her laugh and she really likes him. Albert and Eva are both at the same stage in life: sending their only daughters off to college and realizing there is nobody on Earth they want to date. She knows right off that he is not perfect, and she is okay with that, until she starts to hear the details from his ex. It’s so nice to watch two marvelous character actors at the height of their game, taking the lead-like when Albert simply states, “I thought you liked me,” and puts the emphasis on “me.” Whether you are in third grade, college or a nursing home, that gets to you.
Writer/Director Nicole Holofcener (Friends with Money) has crafted something special here that people deal with every day, and she did it without clichés and without judgment. That’s what the movie is about: how we judge each other until we look in the mirror. There is also the subtlety of how she shows the guarded nature of the tenderhearted. Just look at the poster where Albert and Eva are sitting on the front porch. This says he is interested, but not enough to let her into his house – or heart.
I admit that I got choked up a little, and I can’t blame it on the popcorn. And it was not because it was one of Gandolfini’s last movies. I got choked up watching a guy in his 50s, an imperfect guy just like me, take his last shot at love. It reminded me of when my ex-wife dated me, even though she knew all my flaws. When someone “gets you,” and accepts you, that’s when life begins.
At this point you have heard enough to know why I am giving it 4 ½ stars out of 5. So, “Enough Said” – what are you going to do? I wish Gandolfini were around to put the emphasis on “do.”
Tom Basham is an indie filmmaker.
Here is a link to his movie review site: http://bashmovies.wordpress.com/
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