Celeste and Jesse Forever

Celeste (Rashida Jones)  and Jesse (Andy Samberg) love each other. In an ingenious opening montage consisting of still photographs, we see the development of their relationship as they kiss for the first time, go out, exchange loving gestures, marry, and have friends over to their new house. For most of the pictures shown, they seem genuinely happy, except for one which is hard to decipher due to the lighting and the fact that we only see their silhouettes, but it appears that Celeste is disturbed; it seems they could be fighting. It’s perfectly normal, but not something you'd quite expect in a romantic comedy. As the slideshow ends, we come to a regular scene set in the present, and Jesse is driving Celeste to work. Everything appears to be normal. They flirt a lot and fight a little, and they say they love each other right before they part, which is when Celeste reminds Jesse that they have a dinner with friends. Cut to the dinner, where the best friends of Celeste and Jesse, who are also a couple, are clearly not in a good mood. They explode. “This is fucking weird,” they tell them. Celeste and Jesse are separated, have been for over six months, and they are getting a divorce. The setup is perfect. It comes as completely unexpected, but rewatching the first two scenes, it makes complete sense. The joke works, and the premise looks promising, but after that the story advances on a lackadaisical, rom-com standardized way that won’t surprise anyone. 

Abandoning the pretense of a story would have been better than telling this extremely predictable tale. The characters do precisely what you think they will at any given moment. Celeste and Jesse have a falling out at which point one of them settles down with another person after being pushed away from the relationship; the other goes on a few uncomfortable dates, etc.  The characters suffer the predictable anxieties that come with their various predicaments, and they have the flaws that basically every standard romantic comedy character has -- like both of them thinking at different times that they should be together, never meeting in the middle, or fearing that they'll be alone forever when the other finds love. The film follows the usual progression until the couple makes up, but it ends with a self-conscious “twist” deliberately designed  to combat the formula. It’s fine, and it works given the context of the story. But the film believes itself to be superior to your average rom-com in rejecting the genre's stereotypes, when its really not. It is, however, a good romantic comedy, with the potential for greatness, if it only had a better script.

Instead of going through the motions in telling an uninspired story -- albeit one with an interesting starting setup that I imagine worked wonders for the advertising -- the filmmakers should have just gotten rid of it. Instead they should have taken the story in the direction of the “Before" trilogy, to have Celeste and Jesse — reminds you of someone, Celine and Jesse,  from “Before Sunrise” maybe? — just hanging out, drinking and talking for hours on end, because the best thing in the film is, by far, the chemistry between Jones and Samberg. The characters probably don’t work as a couple, yet both actors sold me instantly on their friendship. I like that the film acknowledges the necessity of friendship in a healthy relationship, but I don’t see how these characters ever worked as a couple or how they ever thought they could work. This  reminded me of Drinking Buddies, another comedy about two best friends of opposite sexes who at one point seriously consider getting together, but in the end they laugh it off, which makes both them and the film better off. 

Sadly, Celeste and Jesse Forever is not quite as smart as Drinking Buddies, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its charms. Rashida Jones' skills at improvisation — which peak during a marijuana induced rant of of non-sequiturs ending with "Do you think the Obamas really love each other?” — are marvelous. Samberg has a regular-guy who landed the beautiful girl appeal similar to Jason Segel in Forgetting Sarah Marshall that is hard to resist. As I watched them together, I kept thinking of Sarah Marshall, Drinking Buddies, Before Sunrise, Like Crazy, and 500 Days of Summer,  all movies I love. The script makes me angry, because the more I think about it, the more I believe this could have been a truly great film, worthy of belonging to that list.

Director Lee Toland Krieger has a very distinctive style. The film moves at a brisk, relaxed pace. He cuts out anything that is non-essential, and seems to be more interested in those moments of Celeste and Jesse enjoying each other’s company rather than in advancing the story he was given. His visuals  subtly enhance these moments, without calling attention to themselves. Take, for example, the wedding of the best friends of Celeste and Jesse. By this point, Celeste is finally coming to terms with the fact that she has lost Jesse. They will never again be together. The whole screen is suffused with a blue filter, making the scene more touching and sad than it probably deserved to be. "You are lucky to be best friends. Work on that,” says Celeste during her maid of honor speech. "Fight for it every day.” The sequence ends with a shot of Celeste standing apart from the party, in the dark, smoking a cigarette. She knows what she lost. Jones’ performance elevates the film. It’s refreshing to see a romantic comedy with style, but it could have been better. It should have been better. And I can't shake off that feeling. 

Verdict- 2.5/4 
Celeste and Jesse Forever (2012) 1h. 36min. R. 

Random Thoughts.
- Rashida Jones co-wrote the film. She can certainly write to her strengths as an actress, but as I said, the story needs work.
- That said, its sad that she doesn't get more lead roles. She shouldn't have to write her own movies just to get a good part. It reminded me of Lake Bell with "In a World..." a film the extremely talented actress both wrote and directed. 
- Elijah Wood shows up. He's weird and funny, but seem totally out of place.