You Hurt my Feelings
Plot
Beth is a writing teacher who once wrote her memoir, and is now writing her second book, this time a piece of fiction. Her publisher has told her she needs rewrites, and her husband Don, a therapist discusses her selling it to another publisher instead.
One day, Beth overhears Don telling his brother in law (Beth’s sisters husband) that he does not care for the book, which causes Beth to lose faith in Don, and herself.
Cast/Characters
Julia Louis Dreyfus, who is arguably one of the best female comedienne’s of all time absolutely nails the dramatic chops needed for such a role. She is the highlight of the film.
Tobias Menzies plays Don.
Other cast are Michaela Watkins as Sarah, Arian Moayed as Mark, Owen Teague as Elliot.
Breakdown
I wanted so much to like this film, but unfortunately it falls flat.
First, not enough time was given to who Beth “really” is. Why she wrote a memoir, (her verbally abusive father, but not physically) scars ran so deep that she was unable to take criticism from her husband. These are glossed over, and should have been delved into deeper if we are to believe this is the cause of her reaction to Don’s attitude over her novel.
The way their relationship was written, as well as the reaction their son Elliot has to them about the simplest of things (sharing an ice cream is sacrilege?). He’s upset that they love each other more than they love him, and his indifference of their ‘inside joke’ at the end of the film comes across bizarre.
Nothing really seemed organic, and barely any of the interactions between any of them seem genuine or sincere.
I found the ‘non sequitur’ moments, such as the homeless clothing drive, the visit to the doctors office for Beth’s mother added nothing to the film, and only really added to pad out the run time. If anything they felt more pretentious than profound. All the screen-time to Mark wanting to be a theater actor didn’t really add any depth to the characters, if anything it made the dynamic of Sarah and Mark to the be the egotistical extroverted type that is ‘above’ everyone.
Don is also written to be a terrible shrink – which he even questions later in the film if he’s good or not. He can’t remember his clients history, and other series of clients, (real life couple) like Amber Tamblyn and David Cross as Carolyn and Jonathan and Zach Cherry’s Jim are all unlikable… but at the same time you understand why they don’t like Don and even want a refund. $33k in 2 years!!! He’s also to self indulgent with the constant whining about aging.
There is some incredibly graphic coarse language that just isn’t needed. This would have been a PG movie, but the inclusion of that many uses of that word (Americans just can’t use that word!) gives it an MA rating here in Australia!
At 91m too much is crammed in, and I haven’t even included the robbery, the 1yr later moment with Josh Pais (no its pronounce Pais)… uhg.
The film was directed by Nicole Holofcener, who also wrote the screenplay.
Overall
This is a critical darling that I just didn’t fall for. The characters are mostly unlikable, the main premise of the film feels lost in too much of the other drama and narrative points. The only highlight is Julia Louis Dreyfus, who shows she can do both comedy and drama fluidly.
2.5/5
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