Walking and Talking

Amelia and Laura have been friends since childhood. Laura gets engaged and Amelia abruptly finds herself alone. Her ex is around, what she tells her therapist is not helping, and she starts seeing a man who works at a video store. Laura, meanwhile, carries doubts about her fiancé that she tells nobody. The subject is not love but the balance between two women breaking when one of them changes her life. The film does not turn jealousy into a big fight; it proceeds through small frictions, calls returned late and sentences never said. The form is small-scale and conversational. New York apartments, cafés, cars. The jokes come out of situation rather than lines. It is Nicole Holofcener's first feature. Catherine Keener starts here and appeared in most of the director's later films; their long working relationship was established with this one. Anne Heche plays Laura, with Todd Field and Liev Schreiber as the men. Who it is for: viewers who like nineties American independent comedy and character-driven film. Who it is not for: anyone waiting for events; the film narrates nothing but everyday detail.