Enough Said

Rated: PG-13

        I’d like to tell you about one of James Gandolfini’s last movies, Enough Said. This wasn’t one of those movies I got excited to see when the previews came out, but I kind of felt it was my duty to see it because it was one of Gandolfini’s last. As far as the buzz at the time, I remember hearing nothing but good things. Things like “this was Gandolfini’s best performance by far!” and “Julia Louis Dreyfus is at her finest.” I can’t for the life of me remember them all, or even where I heard them, I just knew that there was enough chatter surrounding this movie that I had to see it at some point.
 
        
Enough Said is supposed to be what US Weekly called “an utterly delightful and grown up romantic comedy.” It follows two middle aged divorcees; Eva, a massage therapist and Albert, as they attempt to jump back into the dating game with each other. They meet at a party and seem to have a lot in common, including empty nest syndrome as their children will be leaving home for college shortly. All goes well until Eva takes on a new massage client whose only point of conversation seems to be her ex-husband. Doubt begins to rise in Eva about Albert, and thusly their relationship begins to struggle.
 
         Although
Enough Said is tagged as a romantic comedy, there wasn’t much for comedy in it. Not to say there weren’t any laughs, just that there weren’t quite enough for the comedy label. As far as I know James Gandolfini certainly wasn’t known for his comedic roles, but Julia Louis Dreyfus certainly is. I’ve never been a Seinfeld fan, but I know there are plenty of you out there that are and that she was like a shining star in that sitcom. I do watch Veep on HBO though, and she’s wonderful in that, not to mention hilarious. I guess that’s part of the reason this movie was so disappointing to me. I just expected too much out of it. Part of the problem may lie in the forced and awkward feel of the performances given. But perhaps it’s that I’m not quite in that age range yet. Maybe if I was I’d have enjoyed this a little more, but I doubt it since from the first five minutes on I was counting down the time until it was over. It was a VERY long hour and a half for me!
 
        This movie makes me a little sad. Not that the movie itself was sad in the least, but because it was one of the last things Gandolfini ever did. After such a great and storied career in such movies as
True Romance, Killing Them Softly, 8mm and Cinema Verite, not to mention The Sopranos, it’s a bit heartbreaking to me that this is one of the last things he’ll known for.
 
        
Enough Said was directed by Nicole Holofcener and stars Julia Louis Dreyfus, James Gandolfini, Toni Collette and Catherine Keener. It is rated PG-13 and is available now on Blu Ray, DVD and digital download.