Friends with Money – Review

Worth seeing: as an intelligent, thought-provoking and heart-warming study of women in their forties
Director:Nicole Holofcener
Featuring:Catherine Keener, Frances McDormand, Jennifer Aniston, Joan Cusack, Greg Germann, Jason Isaacs, Scott Caan, Simon McBurney, Ty Burrell
Length:88 minutes
Certificate:15
Country:US
Released:26th May 2006

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

This is the story of four women who have been friends all of their adult lives and the effect money has on their relationships as they reach early middle age.

Franny (Joan Cusack), Jane (Frances McDormand) and Christine (Catherine Keener) are married and well off and are all concerned about Olivia (Jennifer Aniston).

She’s left her teaching job to clean houses and is struggling to make ends meet as she decides what she wants to do for the rest of her life.

WHAT’S IT LIKE?

Written and directed by Nicole Holofcener this is an intelligent, thought-provoking yet heart-warming look at life after forty.

It’s hard to accept Jennifer Aniston, dressed in a French maid’s outfit, as a pot smoking, lowly paid home help who goes from beauty counter to beauty counter claiming her free skin care samples because she’s so hard up.

Yet this is her best role since The Good Girl. She acts as a catalyst for the rest of the ensemble cast which makes this movie.

Frances McDormand steals the film as the neurotic and depressed yet successful fashion designer Jane, who believes that once you reach forty you are just waiting for death – a moot point.

Despite all being very wealthy, the only person who’s content and happy with her lot is the cash strapped Olivia, who comes good at the end in a surprising twist. And I was left wanting more – I wanted to know what happened to these women after the credits rolled and all down to a beautifully written script and characters, shallow though they are, that you end up caring about.

You might think this is just another chick flick comedy starring Jennifer Aniston, but like me you will be pleasantly surprised. This is a must see movie.