Celeste and Jesse Forever
Rashida Jones writes and stars in a break-up movie that rings true.
Overview
Romantic comedies work as wish fulfilment, and they're the main way we consume ideas of romance in cinema. So when a movie comes along and steps out of the fantasy bubble to present a relationship that's nuanced, messy, and even time-limited, it's instantly refreshing.
Celeste & Jesse Forever then goes beyond mere refreshing idea to become a memorable, honest, sweet, and satisfying film. Starring and co-written by adorable Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation), the film joins Celeste (Jones) and Jesse (Andy Samberg) six months after their separation. They're still so joined at the hip, however, that we're not aware of this for a good 10 minutes of the movie, until their dinner companions and best friends, Beth (Ari Graynor) and Tucker (Eric Christian Olsen), interrupt the couple's cosy in-joke fest to tell them that their behaviour is not normal, not healthy, and has to stop.
They don't listen, but after things eventually come to a head, Jesse moves out of the granny flat — and into a sudden, very committed relationship with a beautiful Belgian (Rebecca Dayan). It's then that Celeste has to deal with the fact that she may have taken her great love for granted.
Jones co-wrote this with long-time pal Will McCormack (who also plays drug dealer Skillz), and the buddy banter is the first of many things they've gotten eerily close to reality. They touch on the possibility of there being a difference between a best friend and life partner and the experience of seeing a hopeless ex abruptly scrub up in a new relationship. Celeste has friendships with multiple women and men (!), a level of social complexity we don't often get to see in film but which brings tons of warmth and zest. It's this kind of sweetly personal resonance that explains why a person's 'favourite films' list is often different to a 'best films' list — and Celeste & Jesse Forever might feature on a few of the former.
With Celeste's high-powered career as a futurist, the film briefly threatened to go down a Bettina Arndt-paved path to a moral of learning to settle with a mediocre man. Fortunately, that path remains in a whole other universe to Celeste & Jesse Forever. Its world is real, contemporary life with extra funny, making for a break-up movie where no-one stands in the night staring up at the rain.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=NQoH1IGRB3w
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