Holofcener Walks and Talks

The beauty of Walking and Talking is that it never assumes the easy plot structure of the romantic comedy genre. It’s as if the characters were followed by cameras for a period of time, and that the most important moments were cut and pasted together. The impressive result is that in just 85 minutes, writer-director Nicole Holofcener articulates the difficulties of dating, the effect of spousal connections on close friends, and the fear of commitment without the sentimentality associated with her female peers.

In other words, instead of inserting devices that lead to a specific coupling a la You’ve Got Mail, Holofcener structures her script in such a way that you do not know what will happen from one scene to the next. There’s a refreshing newness about each scene in the development of character growth because each of them is going through a unique set of internal dilemmas and you don’t know where they are headed next. Whether their building stresses will lead to a confrontation or to withdrawing is unpredictable.

The central relationship is that of best friends Amelia (Catherine Keener, Being John Malkovich and Laura (Anne Heche). They’ve known each other since the childhood days of thinking boys were yucky. While different, they aren’t polar opposites, and this keeps their interaction compelling. They each have their share of men problems, but these men are thankfully never portrayed as extremities of perfect or jerks. Each character is simply a three-dimensional person, with their share of worries and flaws that effect their conversation and actions.

Amelia is single after having broken up with Andrew (Liev Schreiber), whom she remains friends with. Andrew finds himself bumbling from one relationship to the next, including long distance phone sex. Amelia can relate to this type of condition as she has obsessed over her dating relationships before. After sleeping with a video store clerk she considered safe because of his looks, Bill (Kevin Corrigan), forces her to acknowledge the negativity she perpetuates for herself.

Meanwhile Andrew relates all the details of his love life to a censuring Amelia. Amelia in turn forces him to recognize his escapism in dealing with any important issue. While constantly borrowing money from her, he also has a patience with her nervous tendencies that nobody else does. It hurts him to see her self-recriminations. I’ve rarely seen the effects of a previous relationship displayed so well with as with this pair, how styles of communication don’t necessarily change after a breakup.

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