Walking and Talking (1996)

I love this movie so much

very weak, unfortunately

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

this is what audiences need to see more of. Good characterization, realistic dialog (no slap-stick cheap tricks, farce etc.) and capable actors.I have seen "Friends With Money" which was a disappointment compared to this and "Lovely and Amazing". This film succeeds because we care about the characters, Anne Heche as the therapist, trying to control her wedding, Catherine Keener as confused and disappointed single again friend. Andrew and Laura (Schreiber and Keener), Frank and Amelia,(Ann Heche and Todd Field) two couples just trying to make things work. They have to find humor in minor things. Kevin Corrigan adds humor as Keener's sometime date, who finds out he is referred to as the "ugly guy".Liev Schreiber adds a good element to the film. Keener's former boyfriend, he is there for her, even as she pursues Corrigan who works at a video store:..."Jeez look at him...I thought I could relax for once"... Keener says as she wonders why he has rejected her.This has been compared to "Sex and the City", but there really is no comparison. A one hour TV show vs. film; this film has resonance; we will remember and want to see these characters again, they are not cardboard cut-out characterizations. TV has to be more polarized, due to the medium and time limits, hence the characters are more superficial and obvious.(Could we picture Kim Catrall in this film, I don't think so). I am surprised Nicole Holfcener has not surmised this, and realized the casting mistake in "Friends with Money"; if someone has a too-TV persona, they do not necessarily translate to film. That was one of the problems with FWM.Also the performances in this film were not preceded by the personalities. Heche is believable, amusing and sympathetic. Catherine Keener is quirky, interesting and multi-layered. Liev Schreiber is funny, a good friend and we want to see more of him. Please, Ms. Holofcener, for your next film use film actors, not people who had a high "TV Q" or were married to a film celebrity for a brief period. It makes a great deal of difference, and the finished product proves this to be so. 9/10

Some relationships between childhood friends endure the passage of time, as it's the case with Laura and Amelia, who as the film opens are seen as young girls. After some years they have met again as adults and their friendship has a different kind of meaning to both, if anything it is stronger than before. Whereas Amelia has found love and is graduating for a professional career as a therapist, Laura, on the oder hand, has found a job in a newspaper, but her love life leaves a lot to be desired.Nicole Holofcener, the director, takes us to meet these two women as they go through their lives in present day Manhattan. Having seen this film when it made its commercial debut, we decided to take another look after almost ten years of being released and we can report the film is still fresh and quirky as when we first saw it. The director, whose "Lovely and Amazing" was also a worthy successor, treats her subjects with a light touch and the result is a film that gives the viewer a good insight about human relations in a cinematic form.The best thing going for the film is lovely Catherine Keener, who is an asset no matter what she is playing. Ms. Keener seems to be a natural for the movies. The camera loves this actress who has a style of her own and who, in comedies such as this, makes perfect sense as her directors clearly capitalize on her uncanny sense of how to play the quirky characters in which she has excelled.Anne Heche, on the other hand, makes a perfect Amelia come true. Ms. Heche is a good actress that always brings something to the roles she plays. Amelia, the young woman in this film, is at a point in her life where she has to make decisions about her relationship with Frank, who clearly adores her, and her own career as a therapist.The supporting roles are basically the men in the two friends' lives. There is Frank, who is living with Amelia. He wants her to commit and marry him, but she has doubts before she says yes. Todd Field makes a good impression as Frank. Bill, the video store clerk likes Laura, but feels betrayed when he hears a message Amelia has left on the answering machine where she calls him ugly; he takes offense and decides to drop Laura. Kevin Corrigan is perfect playing this man. Finally there is Andrew, an old flame of Laura's who has broken up with her some time ago, but has remained friends. Liev Schreiber is good in this part."Walking and Talking" shows a talented Nicole Holofcener at her best. The film shows us a director who knows a lot about the complicated balance of the relationship between two caring friends.

This movie basically looks at several characters in their thirties, and the trials and tribulations of relationships and friendships. There's certainly plenty of talking, and it feels a little like a fly-on-the-wall documentary due to the relaxed nature of a lot of the scenes. It also does a good job of capturing the stupidity, naivety, and selfishness that it seems is becoming more and more common place in the adults of the 90's+.Worryingly I could remember going through or witnessing many of the scenes in this movie, which made it even more poignant!

How new relationships and the inevitable changes that occur with the passing of years affects two lifelong friends is considered in `Walking and Talking,' directed by Nicole Holofcener. Amelia (Catherine Keener), has achieved a track record of disastrous relationships with the men in her life, and currently she is unattached and in therapy. Laura (Anne Heche), on the other hand, is about to become a practicing therapist, but more importantly, she has a successful, long standing relationship with Frank (Todd Field), a jewelry designer who has just, in fact, asked her to marry him. Laura is concerned about how Amelia will react to their engagement, especially in light of the fact that the only guy who seems to be interested in her is Bill (Kevin Corrigan), a video store clerk who Amelia simply refers to as `The ugly video store guy.' Confusing matters somewhat, as well, is the friendship Amelia insists on maintaining with Andrew (Liev Schreiber), an ex-boyfriend with whom she had an obsessive relationship. And so it is that Amelia and Laura find themselves at a crossroads; regarding not only the direction of their individual lives, but the future of their relationship with one another. Working from her own screenplay, Holofcener shows some insight into human nature and the course one's life is often compelled to take. It's a fairly perceptive examination of emotional vulnerability, as expressed through the character of Amelia, as well as of the strength of resolution we find in Laura. It's a thoughtful presentation, focused through the interrelationship of the two women and the three men in their lives, which develops a profile that pretty much covers the entire emotional spectrum. And Holofcener does it realistically and effectively, avoiding stereotypes while making her characters believable, if not necessarily sympathetic. Keener is the most engaging of the bunch, affecting a naturalness while painting a vivid portrait of an emotionally challenged, somewhat confused and directionless young woman perpetually mired in an emotional wasteland; all of which Keener conveys extremely well. And Heche does an excellent job with her portrayal of Laura, who is somewhat self-absorbed, and who has obviously developed on an emotional level quite different from Amelia. She comes across as rather cold at times, which keeps her at arm's length from the audience, but it allows the viewer to make an even stronger connection with Amelia, whose situation is one with which many will be able to identify. Field makes a good impression here, making Frank more than the typical male caricature to which a part like this often succumbs, and Schreiber gives a good performance as well, as something of the masculine counterpart of Amelia, though a bit more on track with his life. Kevin Corrigan makes Bill the one with whom you can most readily empathize, however, as he captures the emotional complexities of his character with an extremely subtle, understated performance. And it's through Bill that we gain valuable insight into the true nature of the other characters. It's a supporting, but pivotal role, sensitively and effectively rendered by Corrigan, who is a terrific character actor, and a definite asset to this particular film. The supporting cast includes Randall Batinkoff (Peter), Joseph Siravo (Amelia's therapist) and Vinny Pastore (Laura's Devil-Seeing Patient). It covers rather familiar territory, but Holofcener does it quite well, and makes `Walking and Talking' an entertaining, if only moderately involving film. She has a nice touch, and though it may not be anything ground breaking, with the presence of Keener and Corrigan, especially, it certainly makes this endeavor worth a look. I rate this one 6/10.