Lovely & Amazing (2002)

Synopsis: Academy-Award nominated actresses Catherine Keener ("Being John Malkovich") and Brenda Blethyn ("Secrets & Lies") star in Nicole Holofcener's follow-up feature to her critically acclaimed debut...

Academy-Award nominated actresses Catherine Keener ("Being John Malkovich") and Brenda Blethyn ("Secrets & Lies") star in Nicole Holofcener's follow-up feature to her critically acclaimed debut "Walking and Talking." A finely observed comedy, LOVELY & AMAZING is an intimate family portrait of four hapless but resilient women and the bittersweet lessons they learn in keeping up with the hectic demands of their individual neuroses. Jane Marks (Blethyn) is the matriarch of a confused trio of daughters that seems to have nothing in common, except for a peculiar sort of idealism -- a heady brew of vanity, insecurity and humor. Former homecoming queen Michelle (Keener), the eldest daughter, is in a loveless marriage with a spouse who does not appreciate her decidedly obscure artistic endeavors. Younger sister Elizabeth (Emily Mortimer), an insecure actress whose career is beginning to take off, compulsively takes home stray dogs, saving them whether or not they need to be saved.

Only the youngest sister, Annie, an adopted African American eight-year old, seems to stand a chance at rising above the family's legacy. But on the threshold of what promises to be a confusing adolescence, Annie has developed a preoccupation with her appearance -- natural enough for a pre-teen-- but given her adoptive family's history, quite possibly a hint of what's to come.

Each of the women seeks redemption in her own haphazard way, but whatever salvation they find is illusory and shortlived. [More]

Starring: Catherine Keener, Jake Gyllenhaal, Brenda Blethyn, Emily Mortimer

Starring: Catherine Keener, Jake Gyllenhaal, Brenda Blethyn, Emily Mortimer, Raven Goodwin, Dermot Mulroney, James LeGros

Director: Nicole Holofcener

Director: Nicole Holofcener
Screenwriter: Nicole Holofcener
Producer: Ted Hope, Anthony Bregman, Eric D'Arbeloff
Composer: Craig Richey
Studio: Lions Gate Films

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