Enough Said review

I love a rom-com, I love falling in love with whichever leading man and pretending I’m whichever leading lady. Which is hard to do when you’re faced with James Gandolfini and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, both in their fifties at the time of filming but for some reason, it made me appreciate the rom-com more than ever. Enough Said is an incredibly mature, realistic approach to a genre which is so heavily inundated with repetitive, idealistic rubbish.

Eva (Louis-Dreyfus) meets Albert (Gandolfini) at a party where they have instant chemistry, bonding over their daughters who are both due to leave home for university. Eva also meets a new massage client, a middle-aged poet who she befriends and listens to when she complains about her ex-husband. Guess who that ex-husband is… Yep, it’s Albert. So Eva has a lovely time with Albert, who is gentle, funny and a bit naughty, while at the same time getting all the dirt on what he’s really like from his unsuspecting ex.

Enough Said trailer

It’s the fantastic script and the ever better execution of it by the actors which makes Enough Said so successful. It’s true that an even greater poignancy is added because of Gandolfini’s recent death but Albert is such a far cry from the Mafioso type that we’re used to, so it’s an even more charming performance. It’s a relationship that you invest so much in as an audience member (which is a lot to ask in just 90 minutes), so when it all inevitably goes t*ts up, it’s emotional for everyone involved, including you. I sobbed for 20 minutes straight - I was a mess. But it was ok, because I’d laughed a lot too, mainly at Louis-Dreyfus’s reaction shots and the dialogue which couldn’t have been less affected if it had tried.

There’s also a subplot where Eva and Albert’s daughters (separate, from previous marriages) are getting ready to leave for university and this brings in a whole other family element, which is quite tough to recreate. I remember having arguments with my parents before I left for uni because I was already trying to get used to being independent while at the same being desperately sad about leaving them. This is an understated, intelligent look at middle-aged dating that doesn’t alienate or patronise younger audiences.

Watch it. I’m going to. Again.