You Hurt My Feelings

 You Hurt My Feelings

Written, Directed and Produced by: Nicole Holofcener
Distributed by A24.
Premiered at Sundance. 

You Hurt My Feelings, is one of the funniest films I've seen in a long time. Though slightly niche, the premise itself had me laughing. It's about a novelist's long-standing marriage that suddenly turns upside down when she overhears her husband give his honest reaction to her latest book. It’s a simple setup, almost silly—you laugh from a distance, but up close? It’s a knife, cutting into the trust we build our lives on. This film isn’t about the big lies; it’s about the small ones, the ones we tell to keep love soft. The “you’re fine just as you are” kind of honesty, not the “you’ve let yourself go” kind. It wanders between how hard it is to speak those truths and why we need them. There’s a subplot, too, where Beth tells her son he’s wonderful, that Western trick of radical acceptance. He hates it, calls it hollow, and you feel it—the way constant praise can leave you alone with your flaws. The problem with this sort of radical acceptance is that as a community we wouldn't want to even acknowledge them as flaws, leaving people to deal with it by themselves - creating a society of isolated individuals.

The best part about the film is, it comes from a place of having moved past such experiences and hence it takes a lighter note. If the director writes this from a place of deep hurt and betrayal, the film would've been entirely different and it wouldn't let the audience see what it's saying. Films like this show us how comedy can be the chocolate sauce to the broccoli which is the truth. It's a simple film, with a unique idea written and executed beautifully. I laughed out loud, more than once, and walked away hoping we all find someone brave enough to tell us the truth, even when it stings.

50 First Dates (2004)

 50 First Dates

Directed by: Peter Segal
Written by: George Wing
Starring: Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore
Streaming on Netflix. 

Rom-coms with a unique hook, are always fun to watch. 50 First Dates, Love Today, About Time, etc. They're relatively easy to crack also. The premise of the film is fun, clear and to the point. This film comes from a time when comedy was relatively unfiltered and not too politically correct. Weirdly, that made me feel slightly nostalgic. I liked what the film does with the premise, but I don't think the film aged that well - especially because I don't think the film entirely explores the spectrum of relationships/humor that could've been explored with the premise. Having seen so many rom-coms by now, the beat of the girl wanting him to move on, to have a better life - though it works, and is perhaps the only right beat at that point - it didn't blow my mind or move me so much. Adding to this, although the cinematography of the film is not warm, it entirely doesn't have "feel good" vibes, but the setting of the film makes it a very cool, summer film. The beach, the shack, their professions - that made me feel like I was watching something different. This film re-iterated the importance of setting for a story, a scene and a beat. 

It's Complicated

 It's Complicated

Written and Dirceted by: Nancy Meyers
Starring: Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, Alex Baldwin
Streaming on: JioHotstar.

Watching Nancy Meyers’ films feel like cozying up into a warm blanket on a rainy day, with a cup of hot chocolate in your hand. The Holiday, The Intern—they’re warm, cozy and heartwarming. It’s Complicated, with its tangle of messy relationships, should’ve made me squirm. Infidelity, exes, all that chaos usually puts me on the edge. But Nancy Meyers? She’s got this way of telling stories that makes all the chaos and mess feel human. After wondering what was actually the difference could be, the realization finally hit. It's about the gaze. Nancy Meyers avoids the male gaze of messy relationships in this film. She's not interested in a man's sexual jealousy about his partner being with someone else. She's interested in a woman's grief when she sees her ex-husband build a life with someone else and worse, laugh with someone else and be happy with the ache of time passing by without her. 

Having known that this film is loosely inspired from Nancy's own experiences of divorce, I could tell that this is a very honest film. Not just that, the writing is so good that I could follow every chain of thought in Jane's head and get why she's doing what she's doing. Steve Martin as Adam, had my heart throughout the whole film - the sheer simplicity and how much of a gentleman he is, was so endearing to see. Since this film explores the complexities of a divorce after kids, perhaps I missed how much that guilt weighs on you, but even without fully feeling that layer, there was so much complexity and layers to the relationships - and never making things actually feel too messy/uncomfortable (like a Match Point/Gehraayian). I loved the experience of watching this film, and I hope and pray Nancy Meyers directs more - because even the most messiest of lives turn out just okay if those stories are being told by her.

Anora

Anora

Written and Directed by: Sean Baker
Starring: Mikey Madison
Won the Oscar for Best Picture, Director, Actress, Original Screenplay & Editing.
Spoilers Ahead. 

When you Google the film, it says it's a Romance/Comedy. While as I watched the film, it felt more like a Crime Comedy. Nevertheless, I found the film to be very original and engaging. The best part about the film is how the plot unfolds, layer by layer. You can sort of see how things could go really wrong for Anora, and you can also see how she is probably deep down aware of it and is yet signing up for things, perhaps because she wants to take her shot. Even how the film is edited, shows how there's zero chemistry between Ivan and Ani. Ivan doesn't care. It's very obvious, almost to a cartoonish point. As the family finds out and Toros comes home, there's an extended sequence at home where they tie up Ani - which even though was funny, felt a bit stretched. After that, the whole search was very funny and engaging. Even when they finally find Ivan. The film really uses the extreme differences between all the characters to create humor, tension and drama. Ani, even though probably deep down knows that Ivan doesn't love her, wants to stand up for herself. Toros and Igor are loyal, dutiful men. Ivan is out of his fucking mind. Putting all these characters together, with different motives is a brilliant way of creating chaos and comedy.

I like how the film is a brutal depiction of the divide between the haves and have-nots. Ivan is on a bender, blind to Ani's heart, while she fights for her place even though she deep down might know it's a lost cause. Ivan, he wants what he wants. Once the family comes into the picture, this is even more clear. Even though Anora doesn't get what she wants, seeing her stand up for herself in front of Ivan's family was very satisfying. The conversation between Ivan and his family was hilarious! I didn't see the Igor track coming. Though the ending was beautiful and heartbreaking, I wonder if this thematic ending suddenly came into the picture out of nowhere. Of course, the film is about a sex worker and it'd explore the repressed/masked feelings, but for the tone the film takes throughout the film, I did not see the ending coming. So I have mixed feelings about the ending. Overall, I really enjoyed watching the film and absolutely loved how original the film is!