Some initial thoughts about Holofcener's new movie:
-You know you're in good hands very early. That's because Anders "beds" a stranger he has met at Target (or something slightly more upscale). "What is this?" he has asked the stranger. And the stranger: "It's a toothbrush holder, but you could just use a cup." Anders: "How about this?"" (And he holds up an enormous bucket.) Stranger: "That's sort of BIG for a toothbrush!" Hilarity ensues, and we cut to the two of them having awkward, fruitless sex.
What I love about the fruitless sex: The discussion of toothbrushes inserted into holders seems, weirdly, erotic. (And I'm sure Holofcener was thinking about this). When we see the bad sex, there's a book in the background, on the nightstand: "Living with Shame." This is bleakly funny--and it's classic Holofcener. It also sets us up for Anders's climactic bad sex scene--much later--with the Connie Britton character.
In that moment, Anders has turned up, once again, impotent. He reaches for Connie's book--"Living Your Best Life"--and begins to mock it. Connie calls him out: "You are in my bed, saying nasty things about my book? You're mean." This is a pivot point; the relationship could end here. But, wisely, Anders says: "I'm sorry. You're right. Just so you know, I'm miserable, and my life is a mess." And later, because of that honesty, we realize that the relationship has survived.
-It seems to me that Catherine Keener could have played any one of the three main women in this movie: Edie Falco, Elizabeth Marvel, Connie Britton. They all have standard Holofcener profiles: smart, a bit lost, capable of humor. I have to wonder why Keener didn't sign on. (And there are other ways in which this movie is a departure for Holofcener. First deal with Netflix. First time Holofcener has attempted to dramatize the unexpected death of a young person. First time the person who is indisputably the protagonist is also male. First time Holofcener has adapted someone's novel as a movie.)
-It's a movie about drugs. In nearly half the scenes, someone is "medicated." There's a discussion about Xanax, many discussions about red wine and beer, discussions about rehab, PCP, pot, faux-beer. When a man gets angry, he stubs out his cigar on another man's forehead. (Months later, the victim has a circular scar smack dab above the eyes. He buys groceries from a Hindu woman, who clearly thinks something is amiss and perhaps deliberately offensive. A surrogate bindi! Blink, and you'll miss the discomfort.) When we're not discussing drugs, we're discussing other forms of self-medicating. An adolescent boy complains about his mother's "veiny yoga mom arms." Plus: the addiction/salve that is cosmetic surgery. There's a discussion about a middle-aged woman's "new breasts": "They're strange. They're so hard."
-Holofcener is continuously interested in give and take. The preoccupation even made its way, literally, into the title of one of her movies: "Please Give." (And I'd say you can find references to give and take, to measurement, in at least two other Holofcener titles: "Friends with Money" and "Enough Said.") When the "Steady Habits" protagonist is assaulted with a cigar, there's a sense of restitution, of whacky, clumsy faux-justice. You wouldn't easily forgive the assailant (and I'm sure Holofcener is not advocating violence), but at the same time, there seems to be something cosmically willed about the "laying low" of the protagonist. People have ideas about how the economy, and how society, should work, and Holofcener challenges those ideas: We see a young Northwestern graduate living in his car. That graduate accosts a more successful former classmate: "This is your house? I didn't really think this is your style." And the response: "And what is your style? Delivering liquor to houses? You know, I *would* tip you; it's just that you're an asshole." (Tipping: Such a minefield for neurotics. And such classic Holofcener terrain. In another moment, a character *overtips* young Preston, then delivers this double-edged, pseudo-sympathetic observation: "I'm sorry your father is such a disappointment.")
-Will "The Land of Steady Habits" fill you with joy? Nope. That said, I did laugh out loud once: It was when Elizabeth Marvel was serving her "heavily drugged" face in the big third act dinner-party scene. Holofcener finds poetry in the sad lives of affluent, damaged people, living in a suburb in Connecticut, a commuter town. Take poetry where you can get it. It's never in abundance, in this world.
-You know you're in good hands very early. That's because Anders "beds" a stranger he has met at Target (or something slightly more upscale). "What is this?" he has asked the stranger. And the stranger: "It's a toothbrush holder, but you could just use a cup." Anders: "How about this?"" (And he holds up an enormous bucket.) Stranger: "That's sort of BIG for a toothbrush!" Hilarity ensues, and we cut to the two of them having awkward, fruitless sex.
What I love about the fruitless sex: The discussion of toothbrushes inserted into holders seems, weirdly, erotic. (And I'm sure Holofcener was thinking about this). When we see the bad sex, there's a book in the background, on the nightstand: "Living with Shame." This is bleakly funny--and it's classic Holofcener. It also sets us up for Anders's climactic bad sex scene--much later--with the Connie Britton character.
In that moment, Anders has turned up, once again, impotent. He reaches for Connie's book--"Living Your Best Life"--and begins to mock it. Connie calls him out: "You are in my bed, saying nasty things about my book? You're mean." This is a pivot point; the relationship could end here. But, wisely, Anders says: "I'm sorry. You're right. Just so you know, I'm miserable, and my life is a mess." And later, because of that honesty, we realize that the relationship has survived.
-It seems to me that Catherine Keener could have played any one of the three main women in this movie: Edie Falco, Elizabeth Marvel, Connie Britton. They all have standard Holofcener profiles: smart, a bit lost, capable of humor. I have to wonder why Keener didn't sign on. (And there are other ways in which this movie is a departure for Holofcener. First deal with Netflix. First time Holofcener has attempted to dramatize the unexpected death of a young person. First time the person who is indisputably the protagonist is also male. First time Holofcener has adapted someone's novel as a movie.)
-It's a movie about drugs. In nearly half the scenes, someone is "medicated." There's a discussion about Xanax, many discussions about red wine and beer, discussions about rehab, PCP, pot, faux-beer. When a man gets angry, he stubs out his cigar on another man's forehead. (Months later, the victim has a circular scar smack dab above the eyes. He buys groceries from a Hindu woman, who clearly thinks something is amiss and perhaps deliberately offensive. A surrogate bindi! Blink, and you'll miss the discomfort.) When we're not discussing drugs, we're discussing other forms of self-medicating. An adolescent boy complains about his mother's "veiny yoga mom arms." Plus: the addiction/salve that is cosmetic surgery. There's a discussion about a middle-aged woman's "new breasts": "They're strange. They're so hard."
-Holofcener is continuously interested in give and take. The preoccupation even made its way, literally, into the title of one of her movies: "Please Give." (And I'd say you can find references to give and take, to measurement, in at least two other Holofcener titles: "Friends with Money" and "Enough Said.") When the "Steady Habits" protagonist is assaulted with a cigar, there's a sense of restitution, of whacky, clumsy faux-justice. You wouldn't easily forgive the assailant (and I'm sure Holofcener is not advocating violence), but at the same time, there seems to be something cosmically willed about the "laying low" of the protagonist. People have ideas about how the economy, and how society, should work, and Holofcener challenges those ideas: We see a young Northwestern graduate living in his car. That graduate accosts a more successful former classmate: "This is your house? I didn't really think this is your style." And the response: "And what is your style? Delivering liquor to houses? You know, I *would* tip you; it's just that you're an asshole." (Tipping: Such a minefield for neurotics. And such classic Holofcener terrain. In another moment, a character *overtips* young Preston, then delivers this double-edged, pseudo-sympathetic observation: "I'm sorry your father is such a disappointment.")
-Will "The Land of Steady Habits" fill you with joy? Nope. That said, I did laugh out loud once: It was when Elizabeth Marvel was serving her "heavily drugged" face in the big third act dinner-party scene. Holofcener finds poetry in the sad lives of affluent, damaged people, living in a suburb in Connecticut, a commuter town. Take poetry where you can get it. It's never in abundance, in this world.
Comments
Post a Comment