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I have to disagree with bwood, though, in that it's tough to compare this to Blue Valentine. For one, BV concerns the serious, intense and urgent details regarding the death of a relationship in a working-class city. Once those two separate, it's a wrap. The couple in this movie is younger, more urbane ("HIPSTER!!!!!!!!!!!"), and are cool with still being cool after things are over. They may officially be on the outs, but they're still friends, and unlike the fractured couple in Blue Valentine, the possibility of reconciliation is always in the air.
Blue Valentine may have been more compelling to watch, mainly because of the work of Ryan Gosling, but this movie is cool to watch in its own amiable, shaggy dog way.
The narrative is pretty loose. The thing I liked about it is, once Celeste realizes that she made a mistake in asking for a divorce, the movie didn't shift into madcap rom-com territory, where Celeste spent the rest of the movie getting herself into zany situations in order to win Jesse back. She continues on with her life, but admits (repeatedly) how much she misses her bud Jesse.
I also didn't have a problem with the fact that this movie is, for all intents and purposes, Celeste's story. We see her do the majority of dating. We see her call and stare into the distance and long for Jesse. We also see her making moves at work, which was a funny-yet-jarring subplot involving a tart pop singer and a questionable logo. While this diversion gave us some extra laughs, I don't know if it was really needed.
But make no mistake, the movie is, for the most part, funny. This is not a searing portrait of divorce set in the world of L.A. hipsters. It's about a woman coming to terms with the fact that the love of her life has moved on, which I thought was an interesting take. Again, I know we get movies where a couple breaks up and the woman resorts to all kinds of zany antics to win her guy back, but this ain't that movie, and for that, it gets points from me.
Rashida was good. Samburg plays it relatively straight, except for a few moments when he goofs off with Rashida. He was okay. I thought that Will MacCormack was funny as the dope dealer/friend to both.
Here's the main problem I had with the movie. I easily bought Rashida and Samburg's chemistry... as good, good friends. I didn't buy their chemistry as a couple. Part of that, I think, is that while the movie starts with some kind of herky-jerky montage of their evolving relationship, I never got the sense that this was a real couple. Not sure if some extra backstory would have helped or not, but it was just tough to buy this romantic relationship. As friends, they got on fine, and it was fun to watch them pal around together, but I just couldn't get with them being a long-term couple.
Cool flick. No need to rush out and see it, though.
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