Enough Said

I was in an abusive relationship once. It was horrible. I hate thinking about it. She was incredibly cruel to me, often criticizing what I did or things that were my personality in hurtful or cruel ways. She really let my little quirks bother her, making no effort to accept my apologies, and any time she would complain about my quirks, I would try to fix them to the best of my ability. That just brought about more complaints. Looking back on it, I was never really happy. But I forced myself to be okay with it. Even through sometimes physical conflict, with her punching me in the chest while she cried from panic attacks, I had to be okay with it. It sucked so much to feel that way. But the hardest part is admitting that even though she was incredibly cruel to me, she is not unlovable. I believe all people are good people, even if good people don't realize what they're doing is cruel or wrong.

That's the problem that's addressed in this film. How can a man who's ex wife sees him as absolutely repulsive, inconsiderate, clumsy, stupid, what have you, have any appeal to any other women? It's a tough question to explore. I don't want to think any man will ever fall in love with the girl who cheated on me with an internet fling, then demanded I be okay with their friendship. One character in this film couldn't bear the thought that her husband would ever date any attractive woman again either. That's a tough topic to explore, and the movie does it incredibly believably. It's a huge eye opener, and one that's probably hard for a lot of people to think about.

The film follows Julia Louis-Dreyfus' character, as she meets and falls in love with James Gandolfini in one of his last roles before his passing. She finds herself in love with his strange appearance, one she describes as not necessarily attractive, but someone she's attracted to. After hearing only negative things about the man, she starts questioning her attraction at all, seeing all of his newly noticed flaws rather than seeing the charm she originally saw in him. It leaves you wondering, is what you say about your ex right, no matter how cruel or sadly true it may be?

Everyone in this movie gives a sweet, gentle reading of very real characters. I sympathize with every one of them, feeling each of their struggles and desires and seeing the other side as well. The script allows these characters to go through what we constantly go through - a brilliantly written initial infatuation, followed by the realization that no one is perfect. But finally, it questions the validity of past opinions, of what's really okay in sacrifice in a relationship, and what it means not just as a person, but as a parent.

I really don't know what else to say about Enough Said except that it really gave me a lot to think about. It had me ponder my own life and my own experiences, and wonder how I should treat myself and the people who used to be in my life. It was a strongly written, wonderfully acted, and bizarrely effective film, often very funny as well. I'm very pleasantly surprised.

Rank - 4.5/5