Writer/director Nicole Holofcener is one of the great chroniclers of the micro dramas and minor injustices that make up the tapestry of our relationships, and thereby, of life itself. It’s an increasingly rare thing, in the current cinematic landscape, to see films like this, that tease apart the delicate intricacies of quotidian interactions in order to pose larger questions about who we are in relationship to each other, and what that means for our own sense of self.
Her latest film, “You Hurt My Feelings” is another Holofcener home run on this field, a comedic unpacking of the little white lies we tell each other in order to avoid unnecessary conflict, to smooth things over. It’s also a gentle but necessary skewering of her solipsistic characters, whom we both laugh at for their self-centered indignation and relate to on an intrinsic level.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tobias Menzies star as Beth and Don, a deeply co-dependent New York City couple who have been ignoring or papering over any friction in their relationship with false assurances for years — fawning over anniversary gifts, blindly cheering on their career moves without much critical thinking. They are completely in step with each other, almost to the point of disgusting their 20-something son, Elliott (Owen Teague), until suddenly, the veil of polite, unyielding support is violently pierced thanks to an accidentally overheard conversation.
