"Friends With Money" examines the shifting relationships between four women who have been friends all of their adult lives. Now as they settle into their early middle age, their friendship is increasingly challenged by the ever-growing disparity in their individual degrees of financial comfort. It is a poignant snapshot of the way we live today, where the safe divisions that class and money have created are eroding under the unstoppable force of everyday life and the result is a painfully hilarious examination of modern life that manages to be both brutally honest and ultimately uplifting.
The three friends with money, Franny (Joan Cusack), Jane (Frances McDormand), and Christine (Catherine Keener), share a concern for Olivia (Jennifer Aniston) who seems unable to make a living or sustain a relationship at least by their standards. Their group examination of her lack of options magnifies each of their own doubts and concerns about the marriages and careers to which they have committed themselves.
Olivia, meanwhile, drifts through each of her friends’ lives, at times avoiding the issue of money altogether, and at other times accepting her friends’ painful generosity. Ultimately, Olivia will find satisfaction and stability from an unexpected place, but her own somewhat happy ending is muted by the harsh reality of the suddenly disassembled lives of her best friends.
"Friends With Money" is also about the unexpected challenges of being an adult. It is about facing the reality of one's place in the world; about confronting a new stage of sexuality and attractiveness; about realizing you still have lots of time left to live even though many of life's major benchmarks may be behind you. It is about being honest with yourself and those you care most deeply about. Does a degree of financial security conscript one to a life of comfort that ultimately becomes a kind of gilded cage? Does a reduced measure of financial security, in fact, represent a greater degree of freedom and choice? The film forces into focus a strong group of relationships that have long gone unexamined, as each confronts a new stage in life.
I highly recommend this movie to anyone who appreciates character studies and analysis. Jennifer Aniston is at her best in this short 88 minute film.
4 comments:
This movie hits WAYYYY too close to home! Be that as it may, great review!
thoughtful review - thanks!
I love your review Ryan! But I don't really like Jennifer Aniston still if you say this is her best work I might have to check it out.
I wanted to see it when it came out....I'll have to try to remember to rent it. Thanks for reminding me.
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