A sweet spy that goes by Dessert reports in from Seattle with a report on a preview of Your Friends and Neighbors. Now, Harry and ol Father Geek loved LaBute's 1st effort on the big screen, so we can't wait until this one is showing here in Austin.
In the day and age of the crasser the better on screen, there are some which can make serious commentary instead of just throw away gags. Neil LaBute's second feature is a corkscrew comedy of savage, bitter people who can't find happiness in many a thing, let alone sex. The film is not as tight or commanding as his first feature, the black-hearted "In the Company of Men," but he gives six nameless characters six juicy parts with plenty to talk about. The emotional punch is devastating for those trying to find love and happiness on celluloid.
One married couple (Amy Brenneman, "Men's" Aaron Eckhart) are nice people living in a dream home that can't connect sexually. Drama teacher Ben Stiller and live-in girlfriend Catherine Keener may just work out if, well, he didn't talk all the time. Stiller confesses his love for best friend Eckhart's wife, Keener starts an affair with artist assistant Nastassja Kinski.
Then there's Jason Patric (who also produced) as a calculating, misogynistic doctor who has not had peer on film or theater since David Mamet's "Sexual Perversity in Chicago." Manipulative and forward he's the white hot core to LaBute's fire and has the monologue of the year to boot.
LaBute's cold-hearted films aren't for everybody but there is an art and clear-headedness to his work which most of American independent filmmakers can't create on screen.
Dessert
