With 'Friends' Like These ... I'd Take The Money

And here's my "Friends with Money" review, also mysteriously absent today.

Writer/director Nicole Holofcener knows women inside out. Moreover, she knows how to write women.

Holofcener’s films “Walking and Talking” and “Lovely and Amazing” are intricate character studies of women and their relationships with friends, families and lovers. Her latest, “Friends with Money,” follows in their footsteps.

The best thing about Holofcener’s women is how realistic they are. At times, it feels as if we’re voyeurs, watching the lives of our neighbors (albeit, in this case, our extraordinarily wealthy neighbors) unfold before our eyes.

“Friends” concerns itself with four women and their romantic partners.

Frances McDormand is Jane, a 40-plus-year-old woman who’s so convinced that her best days have passed her by that she can’t even be bothered to wash her hair. Her friends speculate that she’s so angry because her husband, Aaron (Simon McBurney), is gay. He says he's not, but don't tell that to the hot guys that keep hittting on him.

Catherine Keener, a veteran of all three of Holofcener’s films, is Christine, who writes screenplays with her husband, David (Jason Isaacs), and is so self-absorbed that she can’t understand why her neighbors would be angry about her addition of a second story to her home, no matter that it does block their view.

Joan Cusack is Franny, a mondo-rich stay-at-home mom who’s the glue in the four women’s friendship. She doesn’t really have many problems of her own, nor does her husband Matt (Greg Germann). Their wealth may not be the only reason they’re so happy, but it sure doesn’t hurt.

And Jennifer Aniston is Olivia, who’s “single, a pothead and a maid,” according to one of her friends. Olivia used to teach snooty kids at a fancy school, until they started bringing her quarters because they felt sorry for her. Now, she’s content-ish to clean other people’s homes.

“Friends” doesn’t have much in the way of plot. Even Olivia’s search for the perfect boyfriend isn’t a major deal. Instead, Holofcener just wants us to observe these women, to see how many of their problems are of their own creation, to see how their materialism and self-loathing is destructive.

It’s not the comedy that some ads make it out to be, but it does have its share of humor, which comes from very real places. By the same token, it’s not as depressing as it might sound, though it does have a dark center.

Equal doses of humor and darkness? Sounds like real life to me.