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A bitchy mom and her wayward flock are the heart of this film. We meet Jane (Brenda Blethyn), mother of two grown daughters and an adopted daughter, preparing for her liposuction as the doctor marks all over her stomach. Obviously, she's looking to improve. Her oldest daughter Michelle (Catherine Keener - Being John Malkovich) is not. A former beauty queen now in her thirties and stuck in a loveless marriage, her answer to everything is "Fuck Off!". Since she cannot live off of her art (handmade wallpaper and horrible twig chairs), she gets a job at a one-hour photo where she promptly begins an affair with her teenage manager (Jake Gyllenhaal). She's stuck. Second daughter Elizabeth (Emily Mortimer) is a waifish actress working in a field that's not particularly sympathetic to imperfection or those with no self-esteem. In her most poignant moment during a one-night stand, she implores a hotshot actor to detail her faults as she stands naked before him (Dermot Mulroney is hilarious as a suspicious but dumb actor). Finally there's Annie (Raven Goodwin), Jane's young adopted black daughter. She has a weight problem and the mixed messages she receives from her mother are certainly not helping. Her black big sister abandons her for being too privileged and she's slowly becoming more aware of race and size. It's the acting that makes this film so enjoyable. No one overdoes it, and there are certainly opportunities. Keener makes her character likable despite the fact that she's so very bratty. The vulnerability displayed by Mortimer and Goodwin is heavy with realism. All four of them show their weaknesses and fears to someone else. The story is served well by the fact that the women are not total lunatics. There's no bottle of whiskey in Michelle's bathroom, Elizabeth's thin arms are not covered with scars from attempted suicides, and Annie does not have a crackhead biological mother who sneaks in from a window begging forgiveness. Their contradictions are very real and funny. A tough, funny chick flick that's a great antidote to the current slate of Ashley Judd films.
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