"Friends with Money" DVD Review

While the performances are great and the script has a nice, biting wit to it, "Friends with Money" is missing that little something that would have made it a must-see DVD for at least the females of the world. It's tough to say exactly what's not connecting, but it's definitely not the acting that does this film in.

Catherine Keener, Frances McDormand, Jennifer Aniston and Joan Cusack star in writer/director Nicole Holofcener's "Friends with Money." A story about women for women, the film delves into the lives four friends as they handle relationship issues and other obstacles to happiness.

Aniston plays Olivia, a former schoolteacher struggling to get by cleaning houses. McDormand is Jane, a successful fashion designer irritated by just about everything. Keener stars as Christine, one half of a husband and wife writing team who do more fighting than writing. Of the group only Cusack as Franny is a genuinely happy person. She's extremely wealthy, in love with her hubby, and often wonders why she's still friends with at least one member of the group.

"Friends with Money" takes a scattershot approach at storytelling, and never allows us to understand who these women are. When you sprinkle in the male supporting players (including Greg Germann, Jason Isaacs, and the scene-stealing Simon McBurney), there's just simply not enough time devoted to any character to get a firm grasp on their motivations or even to figure out whether you like any of these four friends as individuals.

The Bonus Features

The behind-the-scenes featurette is pretty much the standard fare we've come to expect with most DVDs. The commentary track by writer/director Holofcener and producer Anthony Bregman is definitely the highlight of the extra material. The pair does a nice job of keeping the commentary track entertaining.