Your Friends and Neighbors

YOUR FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS / (1998) ***1/2 (out of four)

"Your Friends & Neighbors" is not really a film about sex, although every single scene, in some form or another, depicts its characters' obsessions with sexuality. The sex is not the subject of the film, but rather a medium for the characters to display various forms of behavior. Through eight very different characters, we realize the differences of behaviors, personalities, attitudes, and various degrees of selfishness. Although wealthy and classy, none of the characters are role model citizens. This is a tricky film to watch, never particularly entertaining, but often curiously involving. The sexual content and strong language will turn many audiences off, but this movie does have a solid understanding of itself, and I honor its art.

Neil Lebute is clearly more interested in the characters' sex lives than in a clear, concise story. Ben Stiller and Catherine Keener play partners. They have good friends, another couple played by Amy Brenneman and Aaron Eckhart. Stiller and Brenneman have an affair. Keener has issues with her partner's verbal expressions during sex-she finds a mate in a female artist's assistant played by Nastassja Kinski. Eckhart is his own favorite sexual partner. Jason Patrick plays a cruel, arrogant womanizer who forces his will on others. Eventually, the characters' selfishness destroys their own relationships. We become infatuated with these circumstances.

Many of the scenes contain a strange, subtle power of intrigue. One of my selection of scenes takes place in an art gallery, where the various characters chat with Nastassja Kinski's character. They have the same conversations, but the scenes end differently. Another fantastic scene is where the three men relax in a steam room and discuss their favorite sexual encounters. Jason Patrick's explanation packs a powerful, disturbing punch. Although these scenes do not necessarily construct a story, that's not a problem. The focus here is the vivid dialogue, the aggressive behavior, and the keen direction. This isn't a movie about a story. It's a movie about behavior.

The characters talk about sex constantly-whether it's in the supermarket, the basketball court, in bed, an art gallery, public restaurants, gym showers, their homes, business places, steam rooms, and more. The movie lacks passion to share with the audience, but we can tell Lebute is passionate about writing these characters. There is constantly an uneasy tension between most of them; they form no chemistry or charisma. He isolates them in their own world so that we can watch the interaction, not the romance.

"Your Friends & Neighbors" initially received an NC-17 rating by the MPAA. It contains very little nudity, no violence, and only a few scenes of actual sex. It received an R on appeal, but perhaps we should examine the association's motives for the higher rating. The discussions of sex in this movie are more vivid, more disturbing, more vivid than any actual act of sex. In a way, the MPAA honored the movie's power. They proved that Neil Lebute's social drama is certainly not for all audiences, and it's not really a great movie, but we should strongly respect the angle and courage.

In this fairly ordinary film the pace drags and the characters get tedious. But there are moments of pure gold, and I enjoyed the frank and explicit sex discussions. But the real gold is JASON PATRIC. Not only does he look great, as always, but he plays the most horrible person I have ever seen in any film. Without a single redeeming feature he swaggers cockily through the film and, somehow, is utterly charming. Ah, the attraction of the devil! His long speech in which he describes his best sexual experience is worth sitting through the rest of the film for - it is both brilliantly acted and written, and I'm sure will become a regular "party piece" for auditioning actors. And that scene in the book-store. Wow! Congrats Jason, I'm glad you did receive some award attention for this role - you should have won an Oscar!

Good movies do not have to be about pleasant subjects, many excellent films are about depressing subjects or have sad endings. Neil Labute's first two movies are definitely not happy, and delve deeply into the dark side of modern human existence. They both address the same issue, human dysfunction and evil amidst the bounty of white collar America. In "Your Friends and Neighbors", Labute has us eavesdrop on two Yuppie couples and their friends. For various reasons (mostly of a sexual nature), the couplings are disintegrating, and we're treated to listening in on the action; in bedrooms, in restaurants, and in steam rooms. Labute writes excellent dialogue and the movie is well acted. Unfortunately, "Your Friends and Neighbors" lacks the dramatic punch of his first film. We just watch as the characters screw up their lives, and the lives of their supposed friends and loved-ones. Afterwards you just want to take a shower. A toss-up to grade; if it sounds interesting rent it.

I gave this movie about 45 minutes and then left. I cannot believe Roger Ebert actually gave this movie 4 stars! It took forever to get going and was painstakingly slow. A more dramatic flair for a very promising plot. Anybody who liked this movie must be comatose!

As I watched this film, I noticed the distinct acidity in

my mouth, which I'm sure the director of "Your Friends and Neighbors" was looking for. However, I found myself feeling irritated by the "clever" devices used in the film. For example, using the "artist's assistant" scene over and over to tell us a little about each person's character, is a trite and "cute" trick, employed many times before in films- and better. Worse yet, the scenes didn't show me anything "new" about the characters that I > didn't already know. Worse yet, the Jason Patric character, while well- acted, was a far too obvious one.

I already knew what his problem was long before the "pseudo-confessional" sauna scene. I mean, what a surprise. In fact, I was stunned to hear LINES I'd heard and read years ago, in this scene. This was obviously the big set-piece, the Oscar-baiting scene every actor dreams about, but I was waiting to hear him say something original. If this was supposed to be "insightful", then give me a break. The characters I didn't understand, were Amy Brenneman and her big, lunky husband. Since (gasp) "Insight 101" was the prevailing theme of this film, what was the deal with this pair? Eternal boredom, or not enough work-outs at the gym? Were the "pregnant pauses' at the dinner table supposed to remind me of a Bergman film? These silences held only dead air- not meaning. It didn't take long before I didn't care. While I'm sure that the director/writer wanted us to know that these outwardly sharp and clever people were dysfunctional in their relationships (surprise)- I wanted something new.

And might I mention- "La Ronde" has already been made, and so very much better.