听 Jennifer Aniston stars in the "delicately crafted" low-budget comedy drama Friends With Money. For writer/director Nicole Holofcener it marks the latest in a line of so-called 'women's films', following on the heels of Lovely & Amazing (2001) and Walking And Talking (1996). It got mixed reviews, but perhaps because of Aniston's pulling power it is her highest-grossing movie to date.
For Love And Money
In a behind-the-scenes featurette, Aniston explains that she related to her character's sense of being "lost, lonely and alone". She says it in reference to arriving in California for the first time, but we can't help reading more into it as the film was shot during the public break-up of her marriage to Brad Pitt. Meanwhile co-star Frances McDormand explains the state of "perimenopause" that means her character has regular tantrums and refuses to wash her hair. There's also footage from the set and Catherine Keener talks about her long working relationship with Holofcener. The latter sums up the story of Friends With Money asking "Are we wearing the right shoes?" and "Are we who we want to be?"
Footage from the premiere is a rather pointless addition to the disc, although it does offer the rare spectacle of rain in LA. A featurette following cast and crew to the Sundance Film Festival is slightly more edifying as it includes snippets of a Q&A and interviews from the press junket. The passion everyone shares for the film is obvious and Greg Germann (who plays Matt) calls Holofcener "one of the few American auteurs out there and one of the few women [who is directing]".
Balancing The Budget
Budding filmmakers can benefit from Holofcener's experience in a nuts-and-bolts commentary shared with producer Anthony Bregman. They talk about a hurried phase of pre-production to fit in with the schedules of their leading cast and shooting the whole thing on location in 24 days. In terms of funding, Holofcener's case is a little unusual as she reveals that the film was greenlit as a "blind deal" - essentially Bregman gave her carte blanche after the success of Lovely & Amazing. Bregman talks too about the freakishly wet LA weather that caused havoc with continuity and the hoards of paparazzi who are actually visible in the background trying to grab snapshots of a pensive Ms Aniston.
It's a shame there isn't more direct behind-the-scenes access, but female moviegoers who feel short-changed by the Hollywood mainstream will find Friends With Money is worth forking out for.
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