PRICKLY FILM TAKES DIFFERENT LOOK AT TWO NEW YORK CITY FRIENDS.Byline: Janet Maslin The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times ``Oh my God, how am I going to tell Amelia?'' wails Laura (Anne Heche) only seconds after she decides to marry Frank (Todd Field William Todd Field, known professionally as Todd Field (born February 24, 1964) is an American actor and three time Academy Award-nominated writer/director. Biography Personal life Field was born in Pomona, California, where his family ran a poultry farm. ). Laura and Amelia (Catherine Keener Catherine Ann Keener (born March 23, 1959)[1] is a two time Academy Award-nominated American actress. Biography Early life Keener, the third of five children, was born in Miami, Florida, to Evelyn and Jim Keener, a manager of an automotive store. ) have been best friends since girlhood, and each knows the other's every quirk. Since Amelia is most definitely single, the prospect of her friend's wedding means trouble. But it also guarantees Nicole Holofcener's first feature a mother lode of revealing little intimacies and nicely neurotic wit. ``Walking and Talking,'' a date movie so enjoyably prickly it will seem funniest if you don't have a date, goes straight to the heart of the friendship between these women. It understands what has kept them together and why they drive each other crazy, too. Concentrating on the fine-tuned trivia that fuels so much television comedy, it also creates two bright, appealing heroines and watches them face life's little insults with fresh, disarming humor. ``Now that is the teeniest, tiniest adorable thing you've ever seen,'' the love-struck Frank tells Amelia, holding up one of Laura's tennis socks as he does the laundry. ``She wears an 8,'' Amelia exasperatedly replies. There's not much more to ``Walking and Talking'' than the inviting day-to-dayness of such exchanges, but Holofcener weaves them together with impressive skill. Her film has a brisk style and clean good looks, thanks to exceptionally attractive cinematography cinematography: see motion picture photography. cinematography Art and technology of motion-picture photography. It involves the composition of a scene, lighting of the set and actors, choice of cameras, camera angle, and integration of special by Michael Spiller. (Spiller has been similarly invaluable to all of Hal Hartley's features.) ``Walking and Talking'' also unfolds in a seductively peaceful, summery New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , where the characters amble amble a slower, non-racing version of pace gait in horses. broken amble has many characteristics of the amble but there are four beats to the gait with each foot contacting the ground independently. Called also single-foot. comfortably through neighborhoods that seem friendly and small. The setting is no minor part of the film's charm. The story shows how Laura, a therapist in training, heads nervously toward marriage while daydreaming inappropriately about one of her patients. Amelia, meanwhile, has her own therapist (Joseph Siravo), whose hilariously neutral manner is among the film's many dead-on little touches. Having split up with an old flame An Old Flame is the sixth episode of the fifth and final series of the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs. It first aired on 12 October 1975 on ITV. Background An Old Flame was recorded in the studio on 20 and 21 March 1975. who remains a close friend (Liev Schreiber), she finds herself flirting with the clerk at her video store, though his love of stomach-turning horror movies could mean he's not her type. Kevin Corrigan shows off his superb arch-slacker timing as he escorts Keener's Amelia to a display of horror artifacts artifacts see specimen artifacts. , then happens to mention the screenplay he's writing. ``It's based on the life of Colette,'' he explains. ``Walking and Talking,'' acted winningly by its two blithe blithe adj. blith·er, blith·est 1. Carefree and lighthearted. 2. Lacking or showing a lack of due concern; casual: spoke with blithe ignorance of the true situation. stars, moves confidently toward a warm affirmation of its heroines' lifelong bond. Stylishly and wittily, it also appreciates every bump in the road along the way. THE FACTS The film: ``Walking and Talking'' (R; language, sexuality and brief drug use). The stars: Anne Heche, Catherine Keener, Todd Field. Behind the scenes: Written and directed by Nicole Holofcener. Released by Miramax. Running time: One hour, 24 minutes. Playing: Selected theaters. Our rating: Three Stars. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Liev Schreiber, left, Catherine Keener, Todd Field a nd Anne Heche star in ``Walking and Talking,'' written and directed by Nicole Holofcener. |
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