Sundance Film Festival U.S.A. is a program where films playing at Sundance are shown in a few select cities around the country, usually with filmmakers there willing to take questions. Thursday night I saw Celeste and Jesse Forever at the Coolidge Corner Theatre.
Celeste (Rashida Jones) and Jesse (Andy Samberg) have always been best friends and until recently were husband and wife. It just didn't work out, but they've remained best friends after the separation and their friends find this weird. The film follows both of them, though mostly Celeste, to see if this arrangement works out.
Jones and her friend Will McCormack (who also co-stars) wrote the screenplay and it was made for less than $1 million. Think very indie (though set in LA) with lots of their friends. Maybe I've been listening to the Tobolowsky Files too much but there isn't much of a three act structure, it's mostly middle. Given the setup you already know what the first and third acts would be so they can get away with doing them in just a scene or two.
It's really about pulling realistic moments from relationship stuff, whether funny or sad. This was the film that convinced me to add Dramedy to the genre column of my movie list. The lead performances are both good and the dialog is mostly natural but there isn't much here to remember a few days after seeing it.
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