CELESTE AND JESSE FOREVER (Lee Toland Krieger). 93 minutes. Opens Friday (August 3). For venues and times, see Movies. Rating: NNNN
If I had to describe Rashida Jones in a single word, I’d go with “underused.” The writers on Parks And Recreation still don’t know quite what to do with her after four seasons, and movies like The Big Year, I Love You, Man and Our Idiot Brother perpetually cast her as a wife, girlfriend or fiancée without much regard for her charming screen presence and snappy comic timing.
Jones has solved this problem by creating a breakthrough role for herself. Celeste And Jesse Forever, which she co-wrote with actor Will McCormack, is a bittersweet comedy about exes (played by Jones and Andy Samberg) who haven’t quite figured out how to disconnect from one another.
The script smartly captures the fluid dynamics of a breakup, as well as the confusion and awkwardness that spill over to the former couple’s friends – one of whom is played by co-writer McCormack.
And director Lee Toland Krieger slyly situates the action within Los Angeles hipster culture without being entirely beholden to it. The movie’s nicely self-aware on almost every level, right down to its deployment of slo-mo montages and musical flourishes that are remarkably similar to those used in Beasts Of The Southern Wild – here used to highlight Celeste’s self-absorption.
And Jones is simply terrific as a conflicted, confused young woman just beginning to realize she isn’t as okay with moving on as she first thought. This is a great dramatic performance don’t let the rom-com packaging fool you.