Barnes & Noble

Making the most of an ensemble cast featuring four of Hollywood’s strongest female actors, Friends with Money trains an eye on a couple of America’s favorite obsessions: social status and personal relationships. Although the most recognized of the distinguished cast, Jennifer Aniston shares an equal role. As Olivia, a depressed underachiever working as a housekeeper while preoccupied with the loss of her former lover, Aniston successfully uses understatement rather than cuteness and overt charm to capture our attention and empathy. Olivia’s pals try to help her out in various ways, but they have their own problems to deal with. Successful screenwriter Christine (Catherine Keener) is drifting away from her husband and partner (Jason Isaacs); fashion designer Jane (Frances McDormand) is being consumed by unaccountable rage; and wealthy housewife Fran (Joan Cusack)…well, Fran’s biggest problem seems to be finding the appropriate dress to wear to a charity ball. Writer-director Nicole Holofcener creates compelling female characters with seeming ease, which is obvious to anyone familiar with her exceptional earlier films, Walking and Talking and Lovely and Amazing, as well as her work on such TV series as Sex and the Cityand Gilmore Girls. She doesn’t shortchange her male actors, though. Among the most interesting subplots is the budding friendship between McDormand’s long-suffering spouse (Simon McBurney) and a man he meets shopping -- both of whom share an ambiguous sexual identity. Satisfying if slight, Friends with Money is a triumph for its creator and actors, particularly Aniston, who has learned to register more by projecting less. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

A single woman envies the security of her married friends, while they in turn dream of her freedom in this comedy drama. Olivia (Jennifer Aniston) is a single woman in her mid-thirties who feels she's reached a crossroads in her life. Unhappy with her career as a teacher, Olivia quits and takes a job as a maid until she sorts out her feelings. However, Olivia feels as if she could use some support, both personal and financial, from her best friends, all of whom at very least have more in the bank than she does. But that's not to say they don't have problems of their own. Christine (Catherine Keener) and her husband Patrick (Jason Isaacs) are screenwriters who have discovered that collaborating is more stress than they can deal with. Jane (Frances McDormand) is married to Aaron (Simon McBurney); they work together as designers, but while their professional relationship is cordial, they've become numb to one another as lovers and friends. And Franny (Joan Cusack) and Matt (Greg Germann) are a couple who comfortably support themselves and their children thanks to an inherited fortune; while their material needs are met, emotionally they can barely handle marriage and parenthood. Friends With Money was written and directed by Nicole Holofcener, who previously made the acclaimed independent features Walking and Talking and Lovely & Amazing. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 043396150881
• Source: SONY PICTURES
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Pan & Scan, Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound
• Language: Français
• Time: 1:28:00
• Sales Rank: 31,622

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