Enough Said (2013) Movie Review

ENOUGH SAID (2013) MOVIE REVIEW

Just saying, but it is really, really weird to see a man like James Gandolfini in a romantic comedy. Just wouldn't expect it. 

After she divorces her husband, Eva (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) begins searching for a new man in her life at a friend's party. Here, she unexpectedly begins falling for a slightly overweight man named Albert (James Gandolfini). After they begin to hit it off, she soon learns more about her new lover through her new client and friend, Marianne (Catherine Keener). Unfortunately, she begins to wonder which is more important, her new love or new friend after she finds out that this new friend of hers is actually Albert's ex-wife. From the get go, the story seems like your typical romantic comedy problem though in this film, I felt that they handled it very well. This is because of the fact that no one knows what is going on, including Eva as she literally has no idea what to do with this new found information. Though on the flip-side, she uses this to her advantage by finding out problems as to why Marianne left him in the first place, this includes minor annoyances and nitpicks that ultimately led to the separation. Overall, the story I felt was really strong and although I knew what was going to inevitably happen, I had to idea what would lead to the inevitable. 

Still of James Gandolfini and Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Without a doubt the thing that made me keep on enjoying this movie right until the end were the characters that were created. Every character, whether it be James Gandolfini's loveable, misunderstood lover to Ben Falcone's doormat of a husband , every single character were funny in their own, unique way. Some of the stand out characters to me in the film include James Gandolfini's and Ben Falcone's as I mentioned earlier. One of the reasons I enjoyed these two was because they were more or less the two characters that were created to basically connect with the male demographic that see this film. And I must say, I immediately connected with both these characters as both brought some sort of humour to the already hilarious dialogue. Others that I enjoyed include Tracey Fairaway's performance as a daughter who is leaving for college, one of the reasons this character was funny to me was the fact that since she is leaving so soon, you can see where she is coming from when she asks her mother, Eva, for a little more recognition. Speaking of, another character that was just hilarious was Tavi Gevison as the daughter's best friend Chloe. I think the reason behind my enjoyment for this character is the fact that she herself is being pushed away from her mother, resulting in her continually hanging out with Eva, which causes the daughter to become a tiny bit frustrated though in the end, you can tell that she is just angry in that kind of laughable way, the kind of emotion that would come from your best friend hanging out with your mum more then you. 

Still of Tracey Fairaway and Julia Louis-Dreyfus

As for the acting, this is where the film managed to completely surprise me as I thought that the performances in the film were really good. Julia Louis-Dreyfus was a good choice for this specific role as she plays the kind of person that is regularly nice, though only becomes angry when pushed over the absolute edge, which only occurs once in the entire film. James Gandolfini man...he was just...wow in this film. He played up the misunderstood lover role almost perfectly and in my opinion was the best actor/actress among the cast. Since this is his last performance, I was expecting something but I didn't think I would get a performance like that, which is all the worse reason that he has passed. Anyhow, others who were good in the film include Toni Collette as Eva's best friend as I felt she brought that kind of Toni Collette performance to the table as she really does play up that off the rails lover well, which she also showed in the severely underrated film The Way Way Back. Lastly, one actor in particular that I fell should have been featured in the movie more is Toni Colette's lover in the film, Ben Falcone as Will as I felt he brought a kind of comic relief performance that is rare to see performed so real in romantic comedies in particular. While I feel they missed out by not putting Falcone in more scenes, I must say that the acting was incredibly strong by everyone in their respective roles. 

Still of Toni Colette, Ben Falcone and Julia
Louis-Dreyfus

Overall, I felt that Enough Said is easily one of the most underrated movies of the year. Bringing heart-warming performances, a hilarious script and good chemistry between James and Julia, it is an honour to call this movie James Gandolfini's last. Rest in Peace James. 

OVERALL: 7.6/10