'You Hurt My Feelings'

You Hurt My Feelings is one of those pictures that is worth seeing despite its having enough shortcomings to keep it from being excellent. Julia Louis-Dreyfus rarely disappoints me. She was the one of the Seinfeld crew who made you feel good. I haven't seen everything else she's done but she carries this pic. In my view, the theme of the movie was not the title but instead might have been better expressed as "everyone's lying to everyone else." 

There's also a heavy dose of reality in the theme, which alternatively could be "none of you are as good at what you're doing as you think you are." Tobias Menzies, as Don, Louis-Dreyfus's husband to her Beth, keeps telling her that her new book is superb. Her sister Sarah tell her actor husband Mark that he's coming across wonderfully in his rehearshals for the new play he's in. Beth tells her son that he's great at everything he does in school and out. 

Don, a therapist, tells his subjects that they have to fix their own problems. It's not entirely clear what his role is. Soon enough, they all find their false images crashing down in disaster. Only Sarah seems to have a level head of sorts and she is surprised when something turns out right for her. Jeannie Berlin plays the mother of the two sisters and has a fun time in a clichéd role in which she offhandedly aims to undermine their aspirations. (I recall her as Charles Grodin's new bride in The Heartbreak Kid,where she was memorable, particularly in making a mess of consuming an egg salad sandwich. I believe she's Elaine May's daughter.)

Things turn around a bit too patly, à la Hollywood. Nicole Holofcener, the director, writer, and producer, does almost make this seem like one of those introspective French films, but this isn't quite an Eric Rohmer episode. Maybe something like a Wes Anderson pic. There's some dragging moments, but in 93 minutes, not that many.