Me Without You (2001)

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Expected more

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This 2001 film from British director Sandra Goldbacher is a coming-of-age story about intense female teenage bonds and what happens to them on the road to adulthood. Marina (a splendid Anna Friel) and Holly (Michelle Williams) are in young years already fervently loyal best friends who live next door to each other. Perhaps as a reaction to this over-intensity and partly due to different parental backgrounds, their personalities develop into near opposites: Marina is a self-consciously wild party-girl and eclectic dresser who dabbles with heroin and casual sex, whilst Holly is a Sylvia Plath reading intellectual, a steadier, introverted being who feels mousy and unsexy (her domineering mother is shown telling her "There are pretty people, and there are clever people," as if the two were mutually exclusive). Marina deliberately tries to sabotage the burgeoning love between her brother Nat (Oliver Milburn) and Holly, tearing up a letter intended for her, and manipulatively telling him of Holly's affair with Daniel, their American lit-crit professor. Predictably jealous of Holly finding favour with Daniel (Kyle MacLachlan) – both of whom are Jewish and intellectual – Marina seduces him and tries to impress him by name-dropping Ingmar Bergman. Needless to say, the friendship between the two young women quickly becomes toxic and neurotic as Marina behaves increasingly possessive and histrionic, interpreting Holly's growing automony as a rejection of the friendship itself.It is a fascinating topic and one to which many women can relate. However, there are a few facets that forestall 'Me Without You' from being a great film. The director drew inspiration from an osmotically close bond she experienced as a young teenager which petered out, but was not reflected upon by the two in adulthood (at least not together). In the film, you feel that the difficulties are dramatically presented, but without them being questioned or actively dealt with by the protagonists. Holly fails to confront Marina with the truth of her behaviour, tacitly tolerating her unspoken dominance in the friendship. For her part, Marina also seems to be unable to mature beyond competitivism and rivalry with Holly. This prevents growth and development in character, in the light of which the ending seems unsatisfactorily positive. The viewer is left wondering when Holly will give her quiet suffering a voice and set Marina clear limits in their contact. Also, the script (written by Goldbacher and Laurence Coriat) occasionally lets the film down. The expression "it's so street!", for example, is used so often it grates; the funky jargon of the period could have been used much more liberally and subtly and to better effect. The soundtrack also comes across as a little 'stuck on' and predictable: a Joy Division poster hangs on the wall, records of The Clash, Adam Ant and Depeche Mode spin on the turntables and an attempted suicide (by Marina's mother, deftly performed by Trudie Styler) is accompanied by the music of Nick Drake, himself a famous suicide.It's nevertheless worth watching, especially for those who feel nostalgic for 1970s and 1980s fashion and music and for those who have experienced a close, deep friendship drifting into a stifling and over-dependent osmosis.Also recommended: My Summer of Love, The Page Turner, Look at Me (2005), Gespenster (a German film)

If you love stories about the relationship between women, this movie will satisfy you in many ways. It spans decades of growing up, coming of age, and finally becoming unique individuals who learn to define themselves and accept themselves and each other. This is a rather unsentimental movie that captures your heart in subtle ways. The dialogue is fast and witty. The visuals are stunning and colorful. Both women are fascinating. If you like movies like Beaches and Where the Heart Is or even Entre Nous, and you like them because you fancy the dynamics of female friendship, watch this. This is a modern-day chick-flick. Rock star chick flick. It takes many chances and doesn't have a tight message to the story. It remains mysterious and you are merely a voyeur to this relationship. You are left to make your own assumptions and draw your own opinion of what these two meant to each other.Movies like this are rarely made.

5 out of 10 The film follows two friends from childhood to adulthood. It observes how the two make a pact to stay friends forever as children only to find that this friendship becomes a detriment as they get older. This British made film seems very similar to the cult hit ANTONIA & JANE. That film dealt with the same theme but was much quicker paced, had a better sense of the absurd, and was all around more fresh and funny. This film takes more of a bare bones working class mentality of a Mike Leigh picture. Yet Leigh leaves more of a emotional impact and his characters always have interesting idiosyncracies about them. This film doesn't have that and it gets kind of depressing. The characters seem to meet nothing but perpetual heartache and disillusionment. Having them receive a few more ups instead of a constant stream of downs might have made it a little less taxing to watch. The Miranda character especially seems like a poster child for tragic figures. Where is that droll British wit when you need it. The moral of this story is how Miranda imprisons Holly with their 'friendship'. In many ways that is exactly the same thing this friendship does to the viewer. It becomes obvious after the first thirty minutes that these two have grown vastly separate personalities. There is nothing real to hold these two together and in real life they would have drifted apart much sooner and found other friends that would have fit more with their own individual interests. Keeping these two together seems done only for dramatical purposes. What is more is the fact that these girls do some really mean things to each other and no one in this picture displays any redeeming qualities or strength. The film only seems to get interesting when it gets away from the girls friendship and focuses on the other characters. Holly's relationship with Miranda's older brother is actually much more interesting. The film might have done better had it broadened out from the beginning and shown how the evolution of life affects people in general. It is amusing how in these films girls that are portrayed as 'plain janes' are still superior looking than the average women in real life. Here Holly is considered the 'unattractive' one and yet she still has a terrific figure and a cute face. In fact it is the supposedly enticing Miranda that seems more unattractive. She looks too made up and gaudy. Depending on her hairstyles she runs the gamut of looking like a poor man's Catherine Deneuve to a poor man's Shannon Doherty. What is worse is that by the end, particularly after a bad crying bout, she actually starts to resemble a poor man's Susan Tyrell. The film is quite polished from a technical standpoint. There are moments of keen observations and the viewer can't help but think back to their own childhood friendships. It also has a real nice wrap up and a good music score. Unfortunately it tends to be unrelenting and has nothing to really make it distinctive. It also has a small ongoing stream of sensuality to it that seems forced and predictable.

I'm a middle-aged white man, not a teen chick, and yet I must confess to having felt that this was a fine bit of work from so many POVs- and an entertaining package for their efforts.Yes, there were times when it was too clear that the actresses were improvising their lines for a scene- but I could forgive it! There were far more instances where the lines were so spontaneously delivered that their candor felt just right, honesty beyond reproach.The young women were excellent in their craft and sincerity. The screenplay was very believable, intelligent and did not pander- even if it tried too hard to include too much turmoil. The dialogue was delicious. The direction was tentative in its lack of assurance (some moments that the cast ought to have been reined in rather than indulged) but mostly, the direction shows solid instinct and craft.Finally, the cinematography is very fine. The framing and tracking show the viewer a smoothly handsome progress of scene and plot - without any trendy or self-conscious technical digression. Thank you, my friend, for your refusal to drown us in camera-shake!All in all, I feel this was a fine project lovingly rendered by a sincere and generously talented team. As for their slight lack of self-confidence, it leads me to expect greater pleasure from their next work. This lot will not be undone by complacent ennui!