Customer Reviews

Walking and Talking

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is the film that introduced me to the wonderment of Catherine Keener, Liv Schreiber and Anne Heche. Plus it has the ultra cool, funny Kevin Corrigan. A film about 20's somethings and their relationships and what happens when you feel you are losing your best friend to an impending wedding. Catherine Keener plays a neurotic woman who has no idea what she wants out of a relationship, so she relies heavily on her best friend (Heche) and her ex-boyfriend and male best friend (Schreiber). They are there to comfort her and are outlets to express her doubts on love and life. But one of her outlets is about to get married and she has a hard time adjusting to that fact. It's a good story about life in your 20's. There is a wonderful appearance by Kevin Corrigan who just steals most of the scenes he is in. It's not over the top acting (as you get in your better known dramas) and its not just caricatures... It's just a little low-budget film with some really good acting. The right amount of acting that is required for a film of this quality. And I found it rather enjoyable.

As you may have watched in the recent "Lovely and Amazing" movie by the same director, she chooses to focus on the truth in relationships, instead of presenting what's fake and flowery. Amelia is best friends with Laura. They grew up together, lived together, and shared a cat together. Now, Laura is getting married to her live-in boyfriend, and Amelia takes it hard. She is trying to put a handle on this, and at the same time, be single in New York. It seems that she has no other friends really, except for Andrew, a recent Amelia stalker victim, who she once dated. In fact, everyone she dates, she ends up obsessing about for a little while.

This movie is not too well known or accessible, but I have always liked it for the fact that Amelia, played by Catherine Keener, is so real, with her tangly brown hair, and hilarious facial expressions. Although I haven't really been a fan of Anne Heche, she nails the part. She is interesting to watch with her cynical personality, who can be kind of abrasive, though sometimes sweet. She is trying to accept getting married, and wondering whether she wants to be there.

Walking and Talking is fun, depicting a couple at night, stating, "You want to play around?" then grabbing a Boggle game from under the bed. Liev Schreiber, who has boyish charm and a machine-gun laugh, plays Andrew. He has a need for "adult videos" and stimulating phone conversations with women, he hardly knows. In addition, Todd Field, before directing, "In the Bedroom," always has that sweet, calm demeanor. The characters are hard to forget. Although the story is very simple, it still holds true with healthy and dysfunctional relationships. Anyone who wants to understand women and how they deal with each other should watch it!

I've seen this film several times and it's a great chick flick, if that's what you're after. A good sit-alone-at-home or with another girlfriend film. While it's not earthshatteringly profound, it is touching and quite funny. As a single 30-something who's seen numerous close friends get engaged and married, I can relate to Keener's character. Your relationships with your girlfriends change as you or they embark on committed relationships and this film's about finding yourself and letting go of expectations. See. .. I told you it's a chick flick. But it's great.

This is a wonderful movie. It's smart, funny and real. I still laugh out loud, and usually cry too, even though I've probably seen it a dozen times.

In the movie "When Harry Met Sally" there is a scene where two of the characters argue about whether or not people give up their single friends, when they get married. The film "Walking and Talking" uses this as it's theme in a comedic examination of two women's friendship. Ann Heche (in one of her earlier indie film roles)plays Laura, who gets engaged to her boyfriend, Frank. This deeply affects her close girlfriend, Amelia, wonderfully played by Catherine Keener. Amelia's life is a mess between her cat who has contracted cancer and her long history of bad relationship's (past, present and probably future) with men. Keener really does a superb job presenting us with a women, who is lonely and upset, because she feels she is loosing her best friend to marriage. Anne Heche, also is very good at showing us the flip side of the coin, because her character feels guilty about neglecting her fiend for her fiance'. The film's excellent supporting cast includes Liev Schreiber as Amelia's mooching, ex boyfriend and Todd Field as the nice guy Fiance'. One special mention should be made for character actor, Kevin Corrigan, who plays one of Amelia's geeky dates.He takes a small role that could have been trite and one dimensional and instead he gives his character real feelings and empathy. His chemistry with actress, Catherine Keener is wonderful. He practically steals all the scenes he is in. The film also has a very enjoyable soundtrack, which includes some excellent tunes from singer, Billy Bragg and the Australian, New Wave/pop group, Frente. This is a warm movie about the meaning of friendship, that provides some good laughs and entertainment.

Writer/director Nicole Holofcener's film is low key and likeable. It's about the friendship between student therapist Laura (Ann Heche) and editor Amelia (Catherine Keener) which is tested when Laura announces her engagement to ringmaker Frank (Todd Fisher). Heche and especially Keener give such natural and inventive performances that draw you in to these women's seemingly small concerns - Laura is scared of being attractived to other men in spite of her engagement, and Keener's cat has cancer, sleeps with the video guy and is still friends with her ex, Andrew (Lieb Schrieber). The lighting is sometimes careless. Skin tones tend to become red in some scenes for no reason and the only visually interesting part is seeing how much Heche looks like Grace Kelly in her wedding dress. But Holofcener writes characters with intelligence, sensitivity and humour and it can be refreshing to see relationships that aren't tortured by dramatics. This is one of the indie films like Living in Oblivion that pushed Keener into later mainstream success in titles like Your Friends and Neighbours, and Being John Malkovich, though her performance in 8MM is best passed over.

This is such a calm, natural movie, absolutely believable and funny. Keener and Heche very convincingly play life-long friends who are together, for better or worst, despite the strains and occasional boredom. Todd Fields and Kevin Corrigan fit in the picture perfectly, and Liev Schreiber is hilarious as Keener's aimless, porno renting ex-boyfriend. The soundtrack is great, too.

At once the viewer is treated to dialogue that is simultaneously real and touching. The characters emerge as likable people caught up in typical situations of love, alienation, and nostalgia. The movie explores the dynamic involved in life-long friendships, and invites one to ruminate on past and present relationships. I could not help but draw comparisons between the characters' strained, yet loving, relationship. This movie will speak to you.

A small movie but a note perfect one. Terrific acting from all 4 leads and a stellar support from Kevin Corrigan as the video guy. I found the core Heche/Keener friendship utterly believable - it's a real pity Holofcener hasn't been able to work more, she showed a great eye and ear here (if I owned a movie studio, I'd offer her a long-term contract to make one of these relatively cheap sorts of movies each year for the next five years - actors crawl over broken glass to do this sort of stuff!). Soundtrack mainly by Billy Bragg is *wonderful*. Maybe Holofcener could entice him to get back to that classic Bragg late 80's guitar sound on some new project?

All told, W&T is much better than, say _Kissing Jessica Stein_ or any of Ed Burns's rom com's: I think it's one of the 3 or 4 best rom com's of the 90's.

I don't know precisely what it is about this movie that has me hooked, but I am, and it's one of few that I can watch repeatedly(and do). The two lead actresses are fantastic, and I reccomend this movie to women ages 22-30 in particular. Female friendship is a powerful thing, in all its beauty, and, as this film addresses, at times, its envy. Kevin Corrigan in a small but great role--an underrated actor who deserves great(better?) work. My only complaint is that, in a way, not much happens, but you relate and care about the characters too much to care. ANY film that has a cat named Big Jeans is going to make my faves list..