Lovely & Amazing (2001)

86% of critics liked it
(120 reviews)
61% of users liked it
(4,839 ratings)

Nicole Holofcener, writer/director of the critically acclaimed Walking and Talking, shifts her focus from New York to Los Angeles for her second feature, Lovely & Amazing. Jane Marks (Brenda Blethyn of Secrets and Lies) is a middle-aged woman who's about to undergo liposuction. She has three… More Nicole Holofcener, writer/director of the critically acclaimed Walking and Talking, shifts her focus from New York to Los Angeles for her second feature, Lovely & Amazing. Jane Marks (Brenda Blethyn of Secrets and Lies) is a middle-aged woman who's about to undergo liposuction. She has three daughters. Michelle (Catherine Keener) is a cynical, self-involved, would-be artist in an unhappy marriage. Elizabeth is a struggling actress who constantly takes in stray dogs. Her insecurities about her attractiveness come to the fore when she blows a screen test with a big movie star, Kevin (Dermot Mulroney). The youngest of the Marks sisters, Annie (Raven Goodwin), is an overweight eight-year-old African-American girl whose birth mother was an addict. Jane has adopted Annie, and is determined to provide her with a better life. Jane has a crush on her suave surgeon (Michael Nouri of Flashdance), but her family is thrown into chaos when complications arise during her outpatient procedure, and she's forced to stay in the hospital. Michelle, pressured by her husband (Clark Gregg) to take some financial responsibility for raising their young daughter, eventually gets a part-time job working in a one-hour photo booth, where she meets Jordan (Jake Gyllenhaal), a misfit teen who awkwardly flirts with her. Elizabeth's boyfriend, Paul (James LeGros), who seems to disapprove of the entertainment industry, leaves her. Annie eats compulsively and misbehaves. When the family is faced with a series of crises, relationship patterns that had solidified over the years subtly begin to change. A festival favorite, Lovely & Amazing has been shown at the 2001 Telluride Film Festival, the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival, and the 2002 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 29 min.
Directed By: Nicole Holofcener
Written By: Nicole Holofcener
Genres: Drama, Art House & International, Comedy

In Theaters: Aug 31, 2001 Wide
On DVD: Nov 26, 2002
Studio: Lions Gate Releasing

Critic Reviews

Ray Conlogue, Globe and Mail
This is a fine, funny, humane film.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
This is soap opera with a brain, as she reveals four people ... at their most unguarded and, therefore, honest and bitterly funny.
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
The ensemble Holofcener has assembled comprises some of the best actresses working today, and they inhabit their roles with the astringency and softness these characters demand.
Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star
The impressive thing about Holofcener's non-judgemental generosity with character, which at times recalls an American Mike Leigh, is that she makes no concessions to easy endearment.
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
A gutsy little picture and a nice slice of life.
Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
An astute, gemlike little movie.
Kelly Kessler, Common Sense Media
Mature story about relationships and family.
Blake French, Filmcritic.com
Seldom do movies create focus through spontaneity, but Lovely & Amazing feeds on surprise
Felix Vasquez Jr., Cinema Crazed
I thought the entire movie was a good message of how self-image can make a woman feel inferior and deprecating in a shallow heartless world.
Mark Halverson, Sacramento News & Review
This serio-comic family portrait about self-absorption, self-esteem and family dynamics is excellently acted but more blatantly offbeat than dramatic.
Joe Lozito, Big Picture Big Sound
Actresses beware. Catherine Keener is quietly cornering the market on self-assured, sharp-tongued feminism.
Ross Anthony, Hollywood Report Card
Has a lovely feel, interactions that are real & unafraid to broach life's insecurities -- ie: personal appearance from hair to body fat. However, doesn't add up to amazing.
Emma Cochrane, Empire Magazine
Who'd have thought spending 90 minutes with a bunch of neurotic women could be such fun? An intelligent, unassuming drama that's never less than enjoyable.
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Observed without corny resolutions and paced to allow for reflection, the film is understated but spot on.
Tony Medley, tonymedley.com
I can't imagine why a guy would go to this movie. That is, unless he talks to me or some other guy who has seen it. Because it's one of the best films I've seen this year.
Judith Egerton, Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)
Captures the body-image insecurities of women while delving more than skin-deep into her characters' psyches.
Rob Nelson, City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul
As in Walking and Talking, her comic lament on the evils that brides do to their maids of honor, [Nicole] Holofcener strikes a careful balance between distaff divertissement and stark, semiautobiographical realism.
Jamie Gillies, Apollo Guide
The cast and crew interviews aren't lengthy, but they're enlightening.
Jamie Gillies, Apollo Guide
Not long enough to be a 'message movie', but insightful enough to hold our attention while exploring the lives of these characters.
Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
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Read all 24 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Jennifer X

The fat black adopted girl is really, really funny. I do think Nicole Holofcener has a gift in comedy, but I don't like this as much as Please Give.
Cynthia S

Not really so lovely, and definitely not amazing. Just average...
Megan S

I love Catherine Keener and I liked this movie, a touching human story. I am just a sucker for these types of movies. Just goes to show you how insecurities can affect us no matter who we are and what our lives end up being like.
Alice S

Holofcener is my new favorite female director...not that I had one to begin with, which makes her all the more special in a male-dominated industry. I love her movies because nothing much really happens, but the silent moments, the day-to-day dialogue, the realistic portrayal of women… More
Holofcener is my new favorite female director...not that I had one to begin with, which makes her all the more special in a male-dominated industry. I love her movies because nothing much really happens, but the silent moments, the day-to-day dialogue, the realistic portrayal of women are just wonderful.
Michael G

There was nothing amazing about this movie. Catherine Keener's character was kind of interesting, but not enough to the point where I told myself I was glad I saw it when it was over.
Jackson W

While yes, it attacked many serious female issues, I couldn't get into this movie.
Daniel P

From the writer/director of "Friends With Money", Nicole Holofcener's earlier film tackles similar themes and concentrates on a group of women, this time members of the same family rather than friends, as they struggle to understand their seemingly directionless lives.… More
From the writer/director of "Friends With Money", Nicole Holofcener's earlier film tackles similar themes and concentrates on a group of women, this time members of the same family rather than friends, as they struggle to understand their seemingly directionless lives. The entire cast are excellent, and although this is a film where the male characters are largely superfluous, Dermot Mulroney and Jake Gyllenhaal, in an early role, are both able to give layered and rich performances. The problem with the film (as with Friends With Money), is that it pretty much ends just as you want to see more happen; too many storylines aren't followed through. Whilst I don't want my films necessarily tied up in a nice bow at the end, I really could've done with an extra half hour with the characters. The film also feels cheaply made with some strange editing and a weird imbalance in sound volume, which initially put me off, but the quality in the writing and the performances soon makes up for these shortcomings.
Sunil J

A lot of good acting in this indie film and nothing about it seemed like anything I'd seen before.