Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg play a divorcing couple who remain best friends and inseparable until one meets someone new. The film is equal parts comedy and drama and actually allows both Jones and Samberg to show off their acting chops and do something a little more serious for a change. It was written by Jones as well, along with fellow actor Will McCormack (who also co-stars in the film). Lee Toland Krieger directed the film but Jones and McCormack were nominated for Best First Screenplay at the 2013 Independent Spirit Awards. The film has received great reviews as well and I think deservingly so. It's a funny and insightful film and both Jones and Samberg shine in it.
Jones plays Celeste, a trend analyzer who runs a media business with her friend Scott (Elijah Wood). Samberg plays Jesse, an unemployed artist still struggling to find work. The two were high school sweethearts who married young and have now been separated for several months (while they finalize their divorce). Their friends Beth (Ari Graynor) and Tucker (Eric Christian Olsen), who are engaged, think it's odd that they spend so much time together and act like they're still a couple. Jesse's friend Skillz (McCormack) encourages him to start dating. Jesse is reluctant to follow his advice because he believes Celeste will come around and they'll get back together. Celeste ended things with Jesse though because she thinks he's taken so long to find work and make something of himself. When Jesse tells Celeste he's having a baby with his beautiful new girlfriend Veronica (Rebecca Dayan) it throws her for a loop and causes her to reevaluate her life and her feelings for Jesse.
Celeste and Jesse Forever is a more honest look at breakups and divorce than most romantic dramedies of the last couple of years. The film had a lot of thoughtfulness to it, was delicately filmed and full of wit and raw emotion. The downside though is that it has an overly familiar formula that has been done to death now with films like The Break-Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Take This Waltz, Friends with Kids, etcetera. The film just gets lost in that ever-growing genre, even though it's quite the gem and probably the most relevant version of that specific formula I've seen lately.
The performances were genuine and charming, with an undeniable likable cast. Rashida Jones is becoming one of my favorite actresses of today, and I think Celeste and Jesse Forever is her true breakthrough performance. Rashida plays Celeste who is in the process of finalizing her divorce from her husband Jesse, who still lives with her and are oddly close friends still. Jesse, played with corky poise by Andy Samberg, soon starts dating to move on which thrills Celeste until his past fling pops up in his life again and reveals that she is pregnant. Celeste finds it harder than ever to move on and all she is feeling is regret.
Celeste & Jesse Forever is not the savior of the indie romantic comedy sub-genre. But it is a welcome breath of fresh air in a wasteland of typical Hollywood stock drivel. It's a most welcome change, indeed. Rashida Jones's Celeste whose emotional transformation we're forced to bear witness to, men and women alike. She probably represents all the career-driven females in the audience who try to change their immature, but lovable man-boy spouses/significant others and end up paying royally for it. As a guy, Jones is strikingly beautiful (she's my dream girl at the moment) and extraordinarily talented, but it's quite possible that this is her breakout role here that will lead to bigger, better things.
6.7/10·IMDb
70%·Rotten Tomatoes
59%·Metacritic
3.5/4·Roger Ebert
8/10 Verdict
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