Solid, but not more that. Brenneman's and Keener's characters are totally unsympathetic, especially the former's, which is right-out repulsive. Not boring, but I've seen plenty of this type of pseudo-indie relationshit (half-)comedies, and a lot of them are much better than this one. A good cast, but the ending is hollow, and the only "bite" the film has is its often over-the-top sexual crudeness. Also, a bit predictable; I knew that Kinski & Keener would get involved in a lesbian affair, and I had sensed that Patric would have a homosexual streak in him. How very politically correct to cover both sides of the homosexual fence

CONTAINS SPOILERS THROUGHOUT The first time I saw this film, I came away not liking it. It was disturbing, heavy, and none of the characters were very likable. But through the years I have seen it a few more times, and it has grown on me considerably.I must be honest here-I saw it only because it had Jason Patric and Aaron Eckhart (two actors that I can truly say I became a fan of from seeing them in their earliest roles-Lost Boys for Patric and In The Company of Men for Eckhart), and they delivered on their performances. Patric's character is one of the most twisted and narcissistic characters in cinema history, but he brings a vulnerability and a likability to the screen, and it's hard to hate him. You want to know where he's coming from, and you get a glimpse after he describes a brutal sexual encounter in which he attacks a classmate, and then says it's the best sex he ever had. Even though it is an ensemble cast, Patric owns the film. Eckhart, in a 360 turn from his character in the aforementioned In The Company of Men, plays a nerdy, emotionally distant husband who can't enjoy sex with anyone but himself. Amy Brenneman, as a neglected housewife who has an (almost) affair with Ben Stiller's character does a good job, but you never see it coming when she ends up with Patric, and it makes no sense. The always brilliant Catherine Keener puts in another deadpan performance, this time as the bitchy artist type who decides she prefers a woman (the luminous Nastasja Kinski) over Stiller. She does get hers in the end, after she snottily rejects Patric's character and he puts her in her place. Ben Stiller, who most of the time annoys me with his constant mugging and nervous jittery energy, fits in well with the cast, and you end up feeling sorry for his character. He means well, he just seeks out the wrong women.The movie is talky, but the conversations are riveting. You want to hear more, and learn more about what makes these characters tick. Overall, I give the movie an 8 out of 10.

"Your Friends and Neighbors" (1998) is the second film by director/writer Neil LaBute and it tells the story of three couples and their complicated friendships and relationships. I've seen it more than once during the last couple of days - and I found it incredibly clever written, well acted (especially by Jason Patric and Catherine Keener - their only scene together was the second best in the movie - so dynamic and tight) and skillfully directed. LaBute certainly has a very unique sense of humor and he knows well the history of cinema. To give all characters the names that rhyme - Mary, Barry, Terri, Cheri, Cary and Jerry - was a clever idea - the characters are interchangeable in their relationships and it does not matter really, who is with whom - Mary with Barry or with Cary or Jerry or Barry with Barry, and Cheri with Terri or Jerry? The important thing is that they are selfish and often unpleasant and despicable people who are not happy with themselves and can't make happy their spouses or partners. Another interesting trick - the repeating scene in the Art gallery that starts with exactly the same words for each character but leads to different developments. I mentioned that LaBute knows his movies. Have you noticed the poster from Goddard's Le Mépris, (1963) aka "Contempt" with Brigitte Bardot? "Contempt" features one of the most fascinating and longest scenes of a breakup ever filmed. The breakup scene between Terri (Catherine Keener) and Jerry (Ben Stiller) started like in "Contempt" but it only lasted a few minutes and it was a good scene. Actually, I loved all scenes with Catherine Keener and if I have to choose one character that I liked, it would be Terry. Seems that Charlie Kaufman might have seen LaBute's movie because Terry and Maxine from "Being John Malkovich" have a lot in common. I was actually waiting for Terry to say to Jerry, "The thing is if you ever get me, you would not know what to do with me". Jason Patric was a revelation - I don't know him very well but I remember that he gave a very good performance in "Narc". As for the scene in a steam room, it is not just the best of the film; it is one of the best scenes - monologues ever. I know not many would agree with me but the scene is as powerful, unforgettable and strangely erotic as the monologue in Bergman's "Persona". LaBute's writing, his camera, and mesmerizing performance by Patric made this scene an instant classic. The film is not perfect and sometimes it drags but overall I found it interesting and enjoyable. You don't have to like the characters in order to like and appreciate the film. Sadly, the beautiful, sensual and talented Nastassja Kinski (Cherri) does not have much to play while Ben Stiller does and I am not his fan - even in this film. LaBute's usage of "Metallica"s "Enter Sandman" (performed by Apocalyptica) during the opening and the closing credits instantly pulled me in and Bryony Atkinson's song "My Hollow" is terrific.

If all our relationships are like the ones in this film, we might as well give up. In "Your Friends and Neighbors" we are introduced to a group of upwardly mobile urbanites who run around a lot but haven't learned how to play well with others. Frustrated desire and strained hopefulness shove the characters around as if some socio-sexual Grinch were gumming up their lives. Watching this movie, you may be tempted to ask if this is the way the world turns or if it is merely the way writer-director Neil LaBute likes to pretend it turns. Produced with an abundance of cool, the film strikes an odd balance between surface and structure. By using a naturalistic veneer, LaBute invites us to accept the characters as if they had been lifted straight from the apartment next door. "Wow," we might say, "So this is real life as it is lived by real people in today's world!" Beneath the surface, however, things look different. If you peel back the actors' performances, you may find yourself staring at some carefully skewed scaffolding. You may even conclude that this picture is more the product of the director's artful calculations than of keen observation into the way people live. Of course there's nothing wrong with a director's offering a vision. Most good directors do. And if you like LaBute's work, you probably won't notice him just off-screen, fussing with his blueprints. An example: an important clue to verisimilitude in fiction is the way characters speak. Here they are presented as intelligent young professionals, yet they turn out to be astonishingly inarticulate types who say things like "I just…I don't know what to say…I mean…it just makes me feel…even if you…because…" After a while this dialog comes off like an acting-class exercise, and while the fractured syntax may be central to LaBute's approach, it can get tedious. One exception stands out: Midway through the film, the stutter-speech is interrupted by a remarkable monologue delivered by Jason Patric. Except for this burst of eloquence, however, we find ourselves listening to people who struggle to express themselves as they stumble through days and nights trying and failing to connect with others who are similarly afflicted. (That's the whole point, you say? Well…I mean…it's just…yeah…right.) There are places in this movie where a certain amount of cuteness can be forgiven—as when a patch of dialog recurs several times in the mouths of different characters—and there are other clever touches here and there. But the best reason for watching "Your Friends and Neighbors" is not the director's vision (assuming he has one) but the performances. The six principal actors make the most of their roles, and it is fun to watch a frenetically unfulfilled Ben Stiller, a romantically perplexed Amy Brenneman, a terminally self-satisfied Jason Patric, a mad but sad Catherine Keener, a well-meaning but clueless Aaron Eckhart and an attractively vapid Nastassja Kinsky wander through a maze that—unfortunately for their characters—leads nowhere.