Enough Said (2013)

When actor James Gandolfini passed away last year it came as a surprise. Enough Said is en romantic comedy/drama and the last movie in which he plays one of the main roles. That knowledge gives the movie some weight and it was a reason for me to check it out. In general I do not quickly watch these type of movies because it is not my genre, but I wanted to check out Gandolfini’s role. Is Enough Said, not only because of his appearance, a movie worth watching?

The story is about Eva (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who makes a living as a masseuse, travelling to people’s houses to massage them. She is a single mother and her daughter is about to leave the house to start studying. During a party she meets Albert (James Gandolfini) and she decides to go out with him. At the same party she also meets Marianne (Catherine Keener), who is looking for a masseuse. Marianne and Eva become friends and Marianne regularly tells her about her ex-husband. At the same time the relationship between Eva and Albert starts to develop, but when Eva discovers something very big she is unsure how that will affect their relationship.

The main focus of the movie is Eva. The other characters are more supporting. It’s a pleasure to look at Julia Louis-Dreyfus acting, who makes her characters lovable. Eva sometimes is unsure and asks her friends for support. Even a close friend of her daughter turns out to be very important to her, not even realizing what that does to her daughter. James Gandolfini’s character is very charming and relaxed and it is with a bittersweet feeling you watch his performance. The dialog feels very natural, which really adds to the film. As the focus is on Eva and her problems this is a movie which will probably be liked more by a female audience.