Friends & Lovers (1999)
Friends for ten years, a group of twenty-somethings head for the ski slopes as guests of Ian's father. (Ian and dad are estranged because dad worked too many hours when Ian was a lad.) Dad has something to say, but Ian won't listen. Meanwhile, David is gay and virginal; Ian's business partner, Keaton, is unhappy that his sister Jane is pregnant with no plans to tell the father; Lisa is everybody's pal and no one's lover; John, stuck in adolescence, is always on the make. He brings German-born stunner, Carla, and promptly loses her affection to Hans, a fast-talking ski instructor. David meets Manny: they have chess in common. Soon, surprises abound as relationships take new turns.
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Ok, ok, this is not a masterpiece. There are thousands of "good" movies and this one is certainly not one of them. But come on! If you rent a video like this you are NOT expecting any intellectual experience or to see award-winning performances (fine, you don't expect to see pointless frontal nudity, either. I've got to give you that). "Friends and lovers" was perfect to help me spend two hours of my time I had nothing better to do with. If that's your case, then rent the video - it can be funny of you don't expect too much.
This movie was different, which is why a lot of people probably didn't like it. It seemed a lot more personal, or natural, than most 'movies'. Friends talking about friend things. It didn't seem over produced and over scripted. I doubt if it was ever meant to be a block-buster movie, just a good, different perspective on the subject of "Friends & Lovers". I really think that the Jane character was played and developed very well for a controversial character. Single, pregnant women aren't usually portrayed as normal people in movies. Jane was completely normal, fun and had a personality that was likable. Overall, a good, fun flick, just don't expect to find revealing life lessons within the plot.
There are three kinds of bad movies: movies that defy reality but still entertain, movies that so bad that they're funny, and unforgivable pieces of cow dung that you watch in disbelief as it approaches badness from all directions. "Friends & Lovers" fits the last category like a wedding dress. It is one of the most jaw-droppingly bad movies I have ever seen. This film has, virtually, no redeeming qualities. The acting is wooden and unrealistic, notably by Claudia Schiffer and, surprisingly, Robert Downey Jr. One person I did like and care for was Danny Nucci's character, but he couldn't have save this film if his life depended on it. The characters carry on, endlessly, in boring, silly and uninvolving conversations. This cast could have had a lot of potential had they had a script that wasn't found in a garbage dump. I was never really fond of Stephen Baldwin, the only role I accepted him in was "The Usual Suspects." There was a moment in the film where is a graphic close-up shot of a man's genitals that is, not only gratuitous, but it ruined what could have been a semi-chuckle on my part. I don't know. All was lost on this film. "Friends & Lovers" ranks in the same field as 1997's worst film, "Gone Fishin'."
I can't understand why Robert Downey Jr. wasted his time with such a tasteless sex comedy. I only finished it to prove my theory that the second half was worse than the first one. Guess what? I was right. I can only say BEWARE, BEWARE and BEWARE.