'Enough Said': James Gandolfini is the best part of the romantic comedy
Writer-director Nicole Holofcener (鈥淧lease Give,鈥� 鈥�Friends With Money鈥�) has a reputation I鈥檝e never entirely endorsed for edgy, relationship-centric indie films. There鈥檚 more mush than barb in her work.
鈥淓nough Said,鈥� which co-stars the late James Gandolfini in one of his last movie performances, is her most mainstream job yet. That鈥檚 not altogether a bad thing. Its unpretentiousness has its quasi-Woody Allen side.
Albert (Gandolfini) and Eva (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), both divorced, both sharing custody of college-bound daughters, meet at a party and quickly become a couple. He works at a television museum in Los Angeles; she鈥檚 a massage therapist. Since the actors have genuine chemistry 鈥� not always a given in relationship movies 鈥� the relationship clicks for us as well as for them.
Holofcener relies too much on sitcom situations and she encourages too much sitcom mugging from Louis-Dreyfus. Thankfully, she doesn鈥檛 exploit the material鈥檚 more farcical elements once a newfound friend of Eva's, played by Catherine Keener, turns out to be something else again.
Best is Gandolfini鈥檚 sensitive-guy-in-a-bulky-physique performance. He was a marvelously versatile actor, and, with the knowledge that he is gone, it鈥檚 doubly poignant to watch him here. Grade: B (Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, comic violence, language and partial nudity.)
