Enough Said

'A romantic comedy for grown ups' is a sure way to put off some, but with its likeable leads Enough Said is a warm-hearted watch despite some creaky plot developments.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays Eva, a forty-something divorced masseuse preparing for the inevitable feelings of loneliness when her only daughter leaves for college. She meets James Gandolfini's divorcee at a party and even though she doesn't find him attractive agrees to a date. They hit it off, kind of, with Eva getting used to his weight and his self-acknowledged slobby tendencies. However, Eva's new client, divorced poet Marianne (Keener), won't shut up about her overweight slob of an ex. Wait: Could Albert be Marianne's former husband?

Yes, is the answer to that one. And that can't be a spoiler as writer-director Nicole Holofcener (Friends With Money, Please Give) does little to hide it. In fact, she goes out of her way to make sure the audience cotton on long before they need to. Keener is nothing more than a construct, a plot device used to drop hints that her ex is Eva's new beau. Meanwhile, a subplot regarding Eva's college-bound daughter and her befriending of her daughter's bestie (Tavi Gevinsen) to stave off empty nest syndrome doesn't click. And they do try too hard to make Louis-Dreyfus dumpy, having her knit while her friend and her friend's daughter try on figure-hugging dresses. Why?

But Enough Said is never anything but an undemanding, gentle affair with Gandolfini and Louis-Dreyfus subtly working with Holofcener's natural dialogue; their scenes work so easily while the Louis-Dreyfus/Keener feel forced. In similar fashion, as one subplot doesn't work, the other - Eva's married friends Collette and Ben Falcone who use their problems with their maid to quibble with each other - snaps to it.

Holofcener likes to explore some themes that rom-coms don't get into: How much are we influenced by other people's perceptions? And would we ever be with anyone if we knew all about the other person's faults from the off? Giving Eva a glimpse of a possible future with Albert by knowing all his foibles, Holofcener has inadvertently made When Peggy Sue Got Married In Reverse. And that's okay.