Lovely & Amazing is a 2001 American dramedy film written and directed by
Nicole HolofcenerNicole Holofcener is an American film and television director. She has directed four feature films, most recently Please Give.-Career:...
.
Plot
The story focuses on Jane Marks, her adult daughters Michelle and Elizabeth, and her pre-teen adopted
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
daughter Annie, each of whom allows her personal insecurities to affect her life. Jane, longing to look younger and thinner, opts for
liposuctionLiposuction, also known as lipoplasty , liposculpture suction lipectomy or simply lipo is a cosmetic surgery operation that removes fat from many different sites on the human body...
, with near tragic results. When Michelle's artistic talents fail to produce any income for her family, much to the dismay of her husband Bill, she takes a job as a one-hour photo developer and finds herself falling for the attention of her teenaged co-worker Jordan. Aspiring actress Elizabeth, who bestows upon stray dogs the affection she finds difficult to offer her boyfriend Paul, questions her appeal when she's rejected for a role based on her looks, and she seeks reassurance from film heartthrob Kevin McCabe. Overweight Annie tries to fit in better with her white adopted family by having her
hair straightenedHair straightening is a hair styling technique which involves the flattening and straightening of hair in order to give it a smooth, streamlined, and 'sleek' appearance. It may be accomplished by using hair irons and hot combs, chemical relaxers, Japanese hair straightening, or Brazilian hair...
by black
Big SisterBig Brothers Big Sisters of America is a 501 non-profit organization whose mission is to help children reach their potential through professionally supported, one-to-one relationships with mentors that try to have a measurable impact on youth....
volunteer Lorraine, who Jane hopes will put the young girl in touch with her heritage.
Production notes
The film debuted at the 2001
Telluride Film FestivalThe Telluride Film Festival was started in 1974 by Bill and Stella Pence, Tom Luddy and Jim Card in the town of Telluride, Colorado, United States. It is operated by the National Film Preserve....
. Prior to its initial limited release in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, it was shown at the
Los Angeles Film FestivalThe Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by the Los Angeles Times is an event held annually in June in downtown Los Angeles, California. The Los Angeles Film Festival began as the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival in 1995. The first LAIFF took place over the course of five days in a single...
, the
Toronto International Film FestivalThe Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
, and the
Tribeca Film FestivalThe Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival...
.
In its widest release, the film played on only 175 screens in the US. It grossed $4,210,379 domestically and $485,402 in foreign markets for a total worldwide box office of $4,695,781.
Principal cast
- Brenda Blethyn
Brenda Anne Blethyn, OBE is an English actress who has worked in theatre, television and film. Blethyn has received two Academy Award nominations, two SAG Award nominations, two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
..... Jane Marks
- Catherine Keener
Catherine Ann Keener is an American actress. She has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Being John Malkovich and Capote...
..... Michelle Marks
- Emily Mortimer
Emily Kathleen A. Mortimer is an English actress. She began performing on stage, and has since appeared in several film and television roles, including Scream 3, Match Point, Lars and the Real Girl, and Shutter Island....
..... Elizabeth Marks
- Raven Goodwin ..... Annie Marks
- Jake Gyllenhaal
Jacob Benjamin "Jake" Gyllenhaal is an American actor. The son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, Gyllenhaal began acting at age ten...
..... Jordan
- Michael Nouri
Michael Nouri is an American television and film actor. He may be best known for his role as Nick Hurley, in the 1983 film Flashdance. He has had recurring roles in numerous television series, including NCIS as Eli David, the father of Mossad officer Ziva David, The O.C. as Dr...
..... Dr. Crane
- Aunjanue Ellis
Aunjanue L. Ellis is an American actress known for her roles in Ray, in Undercover Brother, and on The Mentalist....
..... Lorraine
- Dermot Mulroney
-Early life:Mulroney was born in Alexandria, Virginia, the son of Ellen, a housewife and amateur actress originally from Manchester, Iowa, and Michael Mulroney, a law professor at Villanova University School of Law, originally from Elkader, Iowa. He has a sister, Moira, and three brothers, Conor,...
..... Kevin McCabe
- James Le Gros ..... Paul
- Clark Gregg
Robert Clark Gregg is an American actor, screenwriter and director. He co-starred as Christine Campbell's ex-husband Richard in the CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine, which debuted in March 2006 and concluded in May 2010...
..... Bill
- Spencer Garrett
Spencer Garrett is an American actor who has appeared in television programs, television films, films, and a few blockbuster productions like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Public Enemies, and Air Force One....
..... Willy
- Dreya Weber
Dreya Weber is an American actress, producer and aerialist.She was born in Bloomington, Indiana, and attended Hunter College in New York.She performed aerial silks at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City....
..... Donna
Critical reception
In his review in the
New York Times, Stephen Holden said, "As smart and observant as it is,
Lovely and Amazing doesn't really go anywhere. Ms. Holofcener's sharp, witty dialogue shows an ear acutely tuned to the edgy, competitive nuances of contemporary banter, and the movie expertly evokes the rivalry percolating just below the surface of the Markses' relationships. But once family members have weathered their personal crises, little seems to have changed."
Roger EbertRoger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the
Chicago Sun-TimesThe Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
observed, "Here is a movie that knows its women, listens to them, doesn't give them a pass, allows them to be real: It's a rebuke to the shallow
Ya-Ya SisterhoodDivine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is a 2002 American comedy-drama film starring Sandra Bullock and Ashley Judd, directed and written by Callie Khouri...
."
In
VarietyVariety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, Todd McCarthy said, "Engaging, intermittently insightful but too glib to wring full value out of its subject matter, this brightly performed study of an extended family of females has enough going for it to quickly graduate from the fest circuit to a respectable career in specialized release . . . [it] evinces keen antenna for (mostly) female foibles, a good ear for dialogue, talent for directing
thespsAn actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and a clean, unfussy visual style."
Mick LaSalleMick LaSalle is an American Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] [[film reviewer] and the author of two books on pre-[[Motion Picture Production Code|Hays Code]] Hollywood...
of the
San Francisco Chroniclethumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
said, "Nicole Holofcener throws a bunch of issues on the table and takes time to linger over them, without worrying much about where her story's going or even if she has one. The result is a gutsy little picture and a nice slice of life."
In
Rolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
,
Peter TraversPeter Travers is an American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.-Career:...
opined, "In this painfully funny and touching look at the vanities and insecurities that a mother can pass on to her daughters in the name of love, writer-director Nicole Holofcener does a
chick flickChick flick is a slang term for a film mainly dealing with love and romance designed to appeal to a female target audience. Although many types of films may be directed toward the female gender, "chick flick" is typically used only in reference to films that are heavy with emotion or contain themes...
right . . . Holofcener's film feels untidily honest. It's true to life, not to the Hollywood version."
Kenneth Turan of the
Los Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
said, "Like the best of personal, independent cinema . . . it is both marvelously observed and completely individual. There is no film like this film, and that is something you don't hear every day . . . it's so accurate about how people attempt meaningful emotional connections in an uncaring world of self-involvement, obtuseness and free-floating insecurity that it ought to be put in a time capsule."
Awards and nominations
- Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress
The Film Independent's Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress is one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards.-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-External links:*...
(Emily Mortimer, winner)
- Independent Spirit Award for Best Film
The Independent Spirit Award for Best Film is one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards.-1980s:* 1985: After Hours - Martin Scorsese** Blood Simple - Joel and Ethan Coen** Smooth Talk...
(nominee)
- Independent Spirit Award for Best Director
The Film Independent's Spirit Award for Best Director is one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards.- 1980s :* 1985: Joel Coen – Blood Simple** Martin Scorsese – After Hours** Joyce Chopra – Smooth Talk...
(nominee)
- Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay
The Film Independent's Spirit Award for Best Screenplay is one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards.-1980s:* 1985: The Trip to Bountiful - Horton Foote** After Hours - Joseph Minion** Blood Simple - Joel and Ethan Coen...
(nominee)
- Independent Spirit Award for Best Actress
The Film Independent's Spirit Award for Best Female Lead is one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards.-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
(Catherine Keener, nominee)
- Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance (Raven Goodwin, nominee)
- Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay
The Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay is an annual award given by the International Press Academy.- 1990s :*1996: Lone Star*1996: The People vs...
(nominee)
- Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
The Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy is one the Satellite Awards, given annually by the International Press Academy.- 1990s :- 2000s :- 2010–2019 :...
(Keener, nominee)
- Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
The Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture is one of the Satellite Awards presented annually by the International Press Academy.- 1990s :Best Supporting Actress – Drama*1996: Courtney Love - The People vs...
(Mortimer, nominee)
- Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actress
The 9th Annual Chlotrudis Awards were presented March 15, 2003, by the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film. Honoring the best of the past year's independent, documentary and international film, the awards ceremony took place at the venerable Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts...
(Mortimer, winner, tied with Patricia ClarksonPatricia Davies Clarkson is an American actress. After studying drama on the East Coast, Clarkson launched her acting career in 1985, and has worked steadily in both film and television. She twice won the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in Six Feet Under...
for Far from HeavenFar from Heaven is a 2002 drama film written and directed by Todd Haynes and starring Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert, and Patricia Clarkson....
)
- Chlotrudis Award for Best Actress
The 9th Annual Chlotrudis Awards were presented March 15, 2003, by the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film. Honoring the best of the past year's independent, documentary and international film, the awards ceremony took place at the venerable Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts...
(Keener, nominee)
- Chlotrudis Award for Best Original Screenplay
The 9th Annual Chlotrudis Awards were presented March 15, 2003, by the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film. Honoring the best of the past year's independent, documentary and international film, the awards ceremony took place at the venerable Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts...
(nominee)
- Chlotrudis Award for Best Cast
The 9th Annual Chlotrudis Awards were presented March 15, 2003, by the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film. Honoring the best of the past year's independent, documentary and international film, the awards ceremony took place at the venerable Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts...
(nominee)
- Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
The Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress is an annual award given by the Chicago Film Critics Association.-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:...
(Mortimer, nominee)
- Black Reel Award for Best Breakthrough Performance (Goodwin, nominee)