Here’s the first installment where we (the folks who bring you Women and Hollywood) give our opinions (sometimes similiar) of a film opening.
I loved Rashida Jones before seeing Celeste and Jesse Forever which she co-wrote and stars in and now I love her even more. She and her co-writer Will McCormack have created a woman like us. She’s one half total mess and one half perfectly together. Some days one of those halves has dominance and when they both push to the surface she becomes a complex everywoman who is one really interesting character. I don’t want to underplay how great a character Celeste is- she’s a trend spotter who has a book out called Sheitgeist (awesome name) who has broken up with her husband (Andy Samberg) whom she married very young. But neither of them seems able to move on. They are both in holding pattern each kind of thinking they will get back together. She wants him to grow up and be something (what?) that he is not, and hopes in some way that he will get there because she loves him. This film is the opposite of the Judd Apatow pathetic man/boy world. While Jesse can’t get his shit together his story is not the story driving the movie. It is Celeste who is driving the story. She is successful yet is melting down on many levels. It is a joyous ride, one that is highly recommended.
Melissa
I’ve been anxiously waiting to see Celeste and Jesse Forever, a film that lived up to my expectations. Co-written by and starring Rashida Jones it is a simultaneously funny and heartbreaking look at the end of a marriage between Celeste (Jones) and Jesse (Andy Samberg), who are also best friends and who attempt to maintain that friendship while moving on with their lives.
One of the things I loved the most about the film was how relatable Celeste was as a woman and particularly in this life transition. She’s dedicated to her career without sacrificing other areas of her life and it was her choice to end her marriage with her husband, Jesse. A choice, despite slip ups, she knows at the core is the best decision to make. And the film shows that it is a continually fluctuating continuum after a major life change that can consist of the terrible (awful dates, overeating, sleeping with your ex) and the wonderful (career success, amazing friends, great dates) even if you are the person who didn’t want it anymore. And ultimately it deals with the universal feeling, that sometimes you just have to let go and be out of control in order to move on and find yourself.
Kerensa
