Friends With Money

Reviewed by:
Pete Hammond

Although the setting has changed from New York to L.A. and the medium has changed from TV to movies, the quick-shot-sitcom-style patter still applies to Jennifer Aniston and the rest of a first-rate cast (Catherine Keener, Frances McDormand, Joan Cusack) who all deliver like pros. Jen is the odd woman out in her tight circle of friends—she's both younger by a few years and poorer by a few zeroes. While her closest buds are all married and established, they tote around their own issues—despite appearances, wealth and security aren't always a happy couple. Much of this is insightful, funny, and sophisticated, although the male characters are an odd lot: One of them is a heterosexual clothing designer, another a morose, loaded slob who lives cheaply in a one-room apartment, and the last gets laid nightly by his wife. In other words, these guys were created in Fantasyland (a woman wrote and directed the film). Still, it doesn't matter much. McDormand's realistic meltdown at Old Navy is something anyone can relate to and might be the best scene in movies so far this year. In fact, if you don't see yourself somewhere in this movie, you're probably not breathing.