# ENOUGH SAID (DVD; Fox Searchlight)



## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

[img]http://i43.tower.com/images/mm124301026/enough-said-dvd-cover-art.jpg[/img]*Releasing/Participating Studio(s): Fox Searchlight
Disc/Transfer Information: Region 1; Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 93 Minutes
Tested Audio Track: English Dolby Digital 5.1
Director: Nicole Holofcener
Starring Cast: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, James Gandolfini, Catherine Keener, Toni Collette, Ben Falcone, Jessica St. Clair 

PLOT ANALYSIS:*

Here we go again. Another film that justifies and glorifies the way men who aren’t absolutely perfect, looking like they just stepped off the pages of _GQ_ magazine are viewed by selfish, vanity-driven women on the single circuit – even if that happens to encompass older divorcees looking to rekindle some kind of love affair again. The way in which _Enough Said_ – an otherwise sweet, genuine quasi-love story/comedy that looks at the way empty nest divorcees deal with their lonely situations – pounds and pounds and pounds away at this notion that every man must be gorgeous, tall and buff otherwise they’re useless gets absolutely tiresome after awhile. It really is too bad, because behind the façade of phony, ruthless and downright cruel divorced women is a story genuinely played out with their hearts by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and the late James Gandolfini; of course, this film was released in the shadow of Gandolfini’s own untimely death just as he was attempting to break free of the patriarchic stereotype he found himself in since the success of HBO’s _The Sopranos_. In the midst of these attempts to break into more mainstream film since the end of the show’s run – though he had already boasted major film roles in titles like _The Last Castle, Crimson Tide_ and _The Juror_ – Gandolfini would go on to star in films like _Enough Said_, which was fortunate enough to come to light, and it is perhaps in that perspective that the film resonates even more so.

The crux of the story revolves around a major coincidence (or bolt of fate, depending on how you look at it): Divorced single mom meets and pursues the man that used to be her new best friend’s husband. Why this ends up being a big deal was a head-scratcher to me given that all parties have supposedly moved on with new lives now, but as you listen to the way in which the ex-husband who’s in the middle of all this is verbally lashed by his ex to her new friend – who must then deal with those accusations as she continues to date this new guy – it becomes clear why there are some complications. Honestly, director Nicole Holofcener wrings out some very good, genuine and powerful performances from both leads in Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini; you could almost sense that if it were you in their situations, you would act or behave very much the way they did. Most alarming to me, though, when watching this was the way in which Gandolfini just didn’t look good at this point – you can see it around his eyes in this film; there’s no denying he was not doing well physically and it is a somewhat scary foreshadowing of his death to follow.

Divorced and single and acting kind of goofy, Eva (Dreyfus) is a traveling masseuse dreading her daughter’s impending departure for college while balancing the mean, rude and sometimes physically nasty clients she must service. She spends her days, like most divorced women – and many married ones for that matter – riding on the coattails of her best friend (a really hideous-looking Toni Collette, faking a really bad British accent here) and basically becoming part of her life. At a party one evening that she’s invited to, she meets both Albert (Gandolfini), a television history researcher of some kind as well as professional poet Marianne (Catherine Keener), not knowing that the two of them were once husband and wife. With Marianne, Eva makes a new client and with Albert a possible new love interest. But almost immediately, Eva begins making fun of Albert’s weight and overall “grizzly” demeanor to her friends – forget the fact that he could actually be a sweet, down-to-Earth guy – and again the ugly specter of female fascination with utter physical perfection in the opposite sex rears its ugly head. Even still, the two begin to go out on dates and get close, leading to the typical dating rituals of going to the theater, sleeping over each others’ houses and cooking for one another. Eventually, Eva meets Albert’s also going-into-college daughter who turns out to be a snob of all snobs, actually making fun of the college Eva’s daughter has chosen to attend over a lunch between Eva, her and Albert. 

Eventually, Marianne gets close enough with Eva to begin telling her about her ex-husband and the terrible things he did, including refusing to stack items on an actual night table next to their bed – I’m not kidding – as if that was the end of the world as we know it. She pokes fun at his weight, his lazy intentions and his overall contentment, the way she saw it, to create “no life for himself.” Eva must now balance the accusations being made by her new friend of the man she is actually dating, a situation that begins to eat away at her evidenced one evening when she and Albert go to her friend’s house for dinner as a sort of double date. After some wine gets into her system, Eva embarrasses Albert more than once at the dinner, citing the fact that she wants to buy him a “calorie book” and that he has no ability to actually whisper. The whole notion is stupid and downright cruel, clearly showing how mean someone can be as they’re getting to know another individual based on something someone else told them.

Albert makes it clear in the car on the way back from the dinner that he didn’t like the way Eva spoke to him and embarrassed him, refusing to stay the night with her even after she apologized multiple times and claimed she didn’t “mean anything by it.” We’ve heard this all before, haven’t we? I applauded Albert’s decision to remain surefooted and strong here in the face of these cruel antics; though you always certainly feel something for Eva in this, what with her offbeat, goofy mannerisms and playful facial gestures that reminded me very much of a Molly Shannon performance. 

The two take some time off from one another, with Albert continuing to refuse Eva’s advances even after she shows up at his house to ensure him that she still wants to be with him following an uncomfortable situation in which he arrived at his ex-wife’s house to pick up their daughter only to find the woman he’s now dating standing on her patio. Can anyone say awkward? This simply pushes Albert further away from Eva, but soon the two discover they have actually missed one another when Eva turns up yet again on Albert’s doorstep on Thanksgiving. The abrupt ending of _Enough Said_ was a complete head-scratcher – Eva and Albert are sitting on Albert’s front steps, talking about how they missed one another and how they drive past each other’s houses from time to time, when suddenly the screen goes black and the end credits begin to roll. What? This current trend in Hollywood to abruptly end films without much explanation or during odd, offbeat moments of dialogue just doesn’t work in my opinion, and whatever credit _Enough Said_ may have had prior to this was kind of lost to me when the ridiculously abrupt closing sequence arrived. 

[img]http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02699/enoughsaid_2699537b.jpg[/img]*VIDEO QUALITY ANALYSIS: HOW DID THE DISC LOOK?*

Fox Searchlight’s DVD edition of _Enough Said_ showed off, effectively enough, the facial lines on Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ aging mug as well as all the details of James Gandolfini’s unsightly beard here, which I couldn’t help but think made him really look very much like Rob Reiner. The transfer filled my widescreen display without letterboxing due to the 1.85:1 filming ratio and was replete with rich colors, somewhat accurate flesh tones, sufficient detail for upconverted DVD and solid blacks/shadow detail. There were elements that reminded me this wasn’t a Blu-ray – you know, that somewhat twitchy, unstable shakiness around objects and backdrops when you look closely – but there were some standout moments such as the sequences that depicted Katherine Keener’s character’s backyard. These shots glowed with hit-you-over-the-head searing greens as all the plants and foliage of her back patio sprung to life which really tested my display’s ability to reproduce green. 

Overall, a solid DVD effort from Fox. 

[img] http://www.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/2013728/rs_1024x759-130828173430-1024..gandolfini-dreyfus-enough-said-ls.82813_copy.jpg[/img]*AUDIO QUALITY ANALYSIS: HOW DID THE DISC SOUND?*

The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix accompanying the Region 1 DVD release of _Enough Said_ was what you would expect of the title’s genre – uninspiring, non-aggressive and on the somewhat hushed side. Dialogue was firmly locked in the center channel but required higher-than-normal master volume goosing to become involving. Surround activity and LFE elements were practically non-existent; left-to-right pans and back again through the front soundstage were also somewhat reserved. 

No demo material here. 





























[img]http://www.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/2013728/rs_560x415-130828173426-1024..3gandolfini-dreyfus-enough-said-ls.82813_copy.jpg[/img] *FINAL THOUGHTS:* 

While cute, heartwarming and honestly acted by the two main leads, _Enough Said_ suffers from some unfortunate traps such as the aforementioned man-bashing tactics by evil women as well as a subplot involving Dreyfus’ character’s daughter Ellen (Tracey Fairaway) and her uber-annoying best friend Chloe (Tavi Gevinson) who wishes Eva was her own mother and who spends her days and nights at Eva’s house. As Gandolfini’s next-to-last film before his unfortunate death, _Enough Said_ plays like a kind of ironic overshadowing what with the actor’s heartfelt performance as the confused yet lonely single father and the way he looks so physically ill in this. Still, this was a decent rental and I can recommend it as such, though I am uncertain if it possesses any genuine replay value.


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