The winsome and underappreciated Catherine Keener plays Amelia, an unattached New York City cutie living uncomfortably in the shadow of her best friend Laura (Anne Heche). But Laura has problems of her own--including professional insecurities and dwindling sexual interest in her nice-guy fiancé. Not by any means a sidesplitting Generation X comedy, Walking and Talking is the sort of film that relies on bittersweet irony to generate sympathy for its characters. Director Nicole Holofcener leans heavily on the intrinsic pathos, alienation, and insecurity of young adulthood, employing the obligatory well-screened answering machines, meaningless telephone relationships, and lonely nights of video rentals to make her point. Without question, Holofcener should have spent more time elaborating the relationship between her characters--we're never sure why they put up with each other, or why any of them became friends in the first place. We're shown the dysfunctional side of these relationships, but never given a reason to understand them as anything other than hopelessly compromised. Nevertheless, the performances (particularly Heche's) are always heartfelt, the writing is bright without resorting to cleverness, and almost every scene strains admirably for meaning and resonance. --Miles Bethany
(15 votes)
2.
Catherine Keener and Anne Heche star as childhood friends who have now grown up, moved to the big city, and are trying to maintain their friendship as they each deal with their ever-changing life and loves. WALKING AND TALKING, writer-director Nicole Holofcener's debut feature film, is a smart, witty, perceptive film that explores what it's like to be single in New York City in the 1990s. As Laura (Heche) gets engaged to Frank (Todd Field), Amelia (Keener) grows closer with ex-boyfriend Andrew (Liev Schreiber) while considering going out with Bill (Kevin Corrigan), a film geek who works in a video store. The strain that their individual relationships put on each other soon threatens to drive Amelia and Laura apart, as Laura prepares to get married, and Amelia must care for her sick cat.
Holofcener's keen ear for dialogue makes WALKING AND TALKING an honest, utterly believable examination of a lifelong friendship that is suddenly in trouble as the innocence of childhood can no longer make problems go away. Keener and Heche are wonderful as the best friends, with excellent support from Field, Schreiber, Corrigan, and the rest of the cast (which includes SOPRANOS star Vincent Pastore as a bizarre therapy patient and THE WEST WING's Allison Janney as a comforting neighbor). Billy Bragg's wonderful songs make up much of the soundtrack.
(15 votes)
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