(Sony Classics) Directed by Nicole Holofcener Nicole Holofcener's latest tracks a group of four female friends in Los Angeles; three have married into lives that afford a certain material comfort, while the fourth works as a housekeeper. This quartet--played by Jennifer Aniston, Catherine Keener, Frances McDormand, and Joan Cusack--is in possession of such winning screening presence that the movie's pleasures largely come from simply watching them be. But with an ending that feels like a bit of a cheat, the film ultimately seems more of an amalgam of little things than a piece of work with anything bigger to say.

COPYRIGHT 2006 Brant Publications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2006 Gale Group