Friends with Money (2006)

I wanted to but couldn't!

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The worst film I've ever had to sit through? Well, it's up there with the worst.An unpleasant, shallow film about unpleasant shallow people living miserable lives.This film goes nowhere; it has no plot to speak of, other than to depict the desperately sad marriages of a group of spoilt shallow Americans. Aren't films supposed to entertain? This piece of miserable rubbish certainly didn't. The only thing I got from this mess was a better understanding of why Jennifer Anniston no longer gets any decent film roles.A pointless piece of self-indulgent garbage. Avoid.

First of all, I'm not rich. Never have been, never will be. Everything I've ever achieved, I've struggled to get there myself, as probably most of the world. And I have rich friends, well, not filthy rich, but richer than myself by a good deal. It's a struggle sometimes, seeing them take tons of holidays, or just upgrading vehicles with ease. Therefore, I imagined this movie would be for me-and it is, in a way...but I couldn't relate to Jennifer Anniston's character as, I'm a guy, and married. Also some of the guys she dated infuriated me. I'm sure it's a real situation for others, but none of the characters fit myself. But they were good characters that all felt real on some level. It was nice to see a week in the life of these very different people. I see some other reviewers likened this to a tv series, and I wholly agree. I didn't feel fulfilled at the end with all the different situations, whereas I would have really enjoyed continuing with these characters. Possibly even a serial series that switches characters out every few months-I would love to see stories closer to my own. I'd love to write for such a series. Overall, I'm glad I watched it.

This film does have things going for it. The production values are high, the cast is impeccable - Joan Cusack, Frances McDormand, Catherine Keener to name a few. And I guess the format of a group of mature age friends living suburban lives is valid. Many French films are based on such ensembles. But I found that there is way, way, too much dialogue in Friends With Money. Characters have to express every little feeling they have, and just about every character has a scene with every other character in which to discuss every detail of their lives, and of their friends' lives. And also the plot is weak -- a group of friends who are rich have a single friend who is working as a maid. Well, how exciting. The movie Spanglish with Adam Sandler covered some of the same territory. In that case a Hispanic maid comes with her daughter to live with a rich LA family. But Spanglish had more passion, more interesting twists and turns. Spanglish was about the maid's genuine wish for her daughter not to be swallowed up by this family who were so generous to her. Friends With Money means well, but I didn't warm to it.

I know everybody is different. Some people love jazz and hate rock, others love rock and hate hip hop. I understand it and I make no judgments. But a movie like this? I just don't see how ANYONE could give this more than a few stars. It's not entertaining, there's no comedy, no drama, no story, and it all goes nowhere. It's not even arty it's just mundane. More than halfway in, I told my wife I wanted out, and she said "lets just give it a little more". Well, nothing else happened. At the end you're left scratching your head.This movie was highly recommended to us by a friend. She loaned us her DVD to watch it (she actually bought it). After seeing it, I think my wife and I are going to be looking at our friend in a whole new way. What did she see in this thing? If you have it, save it for a rainy day when you have no other DVD's to watch, the TV is out, and there are no books or board games. Even then....