Other Titles • Crush • A Certain Age (2000) • Sad Fuckers Club (2001)
Synopses for Crush (2001)
1.
At first Crush seems to be merely the latest film to portray a clique of boozy, trash-talking women as part of a larger, liberated sisterhood worthy of celebration if not admiration. The lighthearted comedy abruptly detours, however, to expose vicious jealousies with brutal, unexpected consequences. A trio of single women in their 40s, Kate, Janine, and Molly (Andie MacDowell, Imelda Stanton, and Anna Chancellor) engage in a weekly ritual of gin, cigarettes, and joyous male sniping that despite its occasional glimpses of bare insecurity is all good "girl" fun. But when Kate, headmistress at the local school, takes up with a former student (Kenny Doughty) nearly 20 years younger and falls wildly in love, her closest friends, rather than embrace a true departure from social mores, plan instead to sabotage Kate's happiness and bring her to her senses. In one of the most inexplicable twists you're likely to see in a comedy, Janine and Molly's ploy takes an unexpectedly lethal turn, and Crush goes from amusing, if predictable, to downright nasty, and then back to end on a happy note. The effect is provocative, though perhaps unintended. --Fionn Meade
2.
Three forty-something women, Kate (Andie MacDowell), Molly (Anna Chancellor), and Janine (Imelda Staunton), gather weekly to swap stories, guzzle gin, and laugh about whose life is more pathetic, the prize for which is a box of chocolates. A constant problem for these ladies, who live in the sleepy hills of the English Cotswolds, is men--or the lack thereof. Kate, headmistress at a private school, finds a brief remedy in Jed (Kenny Doughty), a young organ player and a former student of hers. After a funeral, the two promptly shag on a tombstone, and the romp surprisingly becomes true love. Her friends aren't supportive of her youthful love affair, causing a rift in their friendship. The strength of the group's bond is tested further by a tragic event that may pull the three of them apart forever.
This debut from director John McKay is a touching portrayal of the powerful bonds between women and lovers in an environment void of acceptance. With touches of pathos and a warm heart, CRUSH is an entertaining and witty rumination on adult concerns. The film benefits from a truthful, relaxed portrayal of romance from counterparts Andie MacDowell and Kenny Doughty.
3.
This funny and touching story centers on Kate, a forty-year-old respectable and successful headmistress in a small English village who gets together with her single friends every Monday to drink, eat chocolate and decide who is that saddest of the week. Things start to turn displeasing between the three friends when Kate begins an affair with Jed, a sexy 25-year-old ex-pupil and is no longer the saddest of the week!
4.
If you can get over its slightly far-fetched storyline, there's a lot of heart in Crush. Three longstanding friends--Kate, the American headmistress (Andie MacDowell), Janine the police inspector (Imelda Staunton) and Molly, an acerbic, thrice-divorced GP (Anna Chancellor)--meet up each week to drown their sorrows with gin and cigarettes, with a prize box of caramels for the one who can report the most disastrous love life. It's this failure with men that has cemented their friendship, for in all other respects they're very different personalities. The cracks begin to show when Kate has a fling, developing into a love affair, with an ex-student 15 years her junior. When she announces that she's going to marry the sensitive and sexy Jed (fresh-faced Kenny Doughty, of whom we'll undoubtedly be seeing more), Molly and Janine are determined to put a stop to such foolishness.
We soon discover that, for all their raunchy talk, they're hidebound by convention, shocked by the difference in age and status and fuelled by jealousy. Their actions spark off a disastrous chain of events that give a vital grittiness to the film. Visually, it's a bit like stepping into a Trollope novel (Joanna, not Anthony), all Cotswold stone, clergy and quaint streets. But the strong dialogue and the conviction of performances from the three main characters (cast to excellent effect) make Crush a deeply absorbing, bittersweet film.
On the DVD:Crush is a good DVD package: not only do we have sharp sound and well-defined colour that brings out the best of the picturesque setting, but the extras are well put together. As well as theatrical trailer and scene selections, there's 25 minutes' worth of interviews with cast and director, a behind-the-scenes feature, a brief but riveting deleted scene, a featurette on the storyline, and the option to watch the film with or without the director's commentary, which is very enlightening. There are also details of other Film Four releases. --Harriet Smith
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