Well he’s not handsome in the typical way

Film: Enough Said
Cast: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, James Gandolfini, Catherine Keener, Toni Collettee, Louis Loftin, Rob Steiner, Ben Falcone Director: Nicole Holofcener
Cinema: Eastgate
Running time: 92 minutes
Type of film: Comedy/Marital
Age restriction: 16

Reviewed By Joel White
Made in Hollywood, California on the western edge of America, this film confirms a typical opinion of Americans about that State: “America is heavily tipped to the West; and all the loose marbles have rolled in that direction.”

A person with Loose marbles, let it be said, is not highly regarded. Further if I had been told by Nicole Holofcener, who both directed and wrote the film, what the storyline was to be about, I would have advised her: “Forget it”.

And I would have been dead wrong!!! The film is a winner, form whichever direction you view it. And I confess to being wrong in another aspect of Hollywood’s rituals.

The leading man in the film, described   in the film’s   dialogue as not handsome, is not handsome indeed.

He is James Gandolfini, born in the State of New Jersey almost 60 years ago and he weighs 140 kgs.

Never before have I seen an actor of that archetype portr4ayed as a romantic lover. This, by the way, is not a complaint; can it be that Hollywood has awakened to the fact that movie goers would not object to seeing replicas of themselves on the screen.

Eva (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is a divorced mother of an 18-year-old daughter who is about to leave homes for college Eva is a private masseuse (a female masseur) who carries an enormous mat and loads of lotions and potions to the homes of men and women, whom she massages.

Would you think one could make a decent living doing that? She makes a very good living but, remember, this is California.

Here’s where the storyline becomes a little hard to swallow: one of her clients, Ellen, is the mother of Cathy, who is best friend to Eva’s daughter Tara.

But neither Eva nor Ellen knows that their daughters are friends. Even more strange, Eva begins dating Ellen’s ex-husband, Albert, not knowing that Ellen and Albert were once married and are the mother and father, respectively, of Cathy.

All this in a small town in California, a State in which American movie goers would not be surprised at anything presented to them. Incidentally, it’s a very funny film.