Last year, Neil LaBute's film debut, "In the Company of Men," shocked audiences with its brutal and acerbic take on sexual politics in the workplace. His sophomore effort, "Your Friends and Neighbors," similarly follows the sordid lives of six individuals with very idiosyncratic sex lives. While the film is not as devastatingly fierce as LaBute's first feature, it is still a very strong and provocative follow up that at times is so harsh it's funny.
The first scene opens with a sweaty man engaged in what seems like a passionate sexual encounter. In time we see that it's only a practice session being recorded on a Dictaphone and reviewed for a date later that night.
The man, Cary (his name, as well as those of all the other characters, is revealed only during the closing credits), is played with misanthropic intensity by Jason Patric ("Speed 2: Cruise Control") in one of the many excellent performances of this film. Along with Cary, there are Terri (Catherine Keener from "Out of Sight") and Jerry (Ben Stiller from "There's Something About Mary"), a couple whose relationship has reached a bitter dead end. She scolds him for talking during sex, and he attacks her for clamming up any time he even breathes. This dilemma sends each of them off to respective mistresses.
Enter Barry and Mary (Aaron Eckhart and Amy Brenneman). They appear to be a happily married couple, but in fact they too are experiencing sexual difficulties. Maybe it is because Mary wants to try a new "side-entry" technique, or maybe it is because Barry secretly thinks that the best sex he's ever had has been with himself.
It isn't long before the smarmy Jerry and the sort-of-innocent Mary wind up in bed together. For Mary, the affair brings the hope of a good, or at least different, sexual encounter. For Jerry, it brings the hope of a conquest. Nevertheless, they find that it really doesn't bring much except unnecessary chaos to their lives.
Meanwhile, Terri has found new love with Cheri (Nastassja Kinski), an artist's assistant. Unlike Jerry, Cheri knows the values of silent sex, but she does ask a lot of questions afterwards.
Of course, none of this sexual behavior is made any easier by the fact that nearly all of the characters, with the exception of Cheri, are friends, especially the men. Locker room conversations and restaurant chats become awkward situations as characters knowingly lie about their affairs to others. The looming question is what keeps these people together so long and bound to their miserable relationships? I'm not sure the film really knows the answer, and, in a way, I liked that enigmatic element of the couples.
The real strength of the film is in its sharp-as-nails writing. The dialogue is crisp and biting. Plus all the actors, especially Brenneman, Patric and Keener, do an excellent job with their roles. Considering the overall lack of action, it is essentially the writing and performances which carry the film, as demonstrated by a totally captivating and haunting monologue late in the film.
Of course writing is much more than dialogue. It is also, among other things, character development. All these characters, although less with Cheri, are solid, well thought out, and unique. For instance, Cary, who winds up being one of the scariest characters in the film, seems frighteningly dangerous, but not because he pulls out any weapons or resorts to physical violence. It is because his character is so well defined and often spews out utterly chilling diatribes (he bitterly yells at a woman who has her period on his bedsheets and often champions the virtues of revenge sex, which for him is the best kind). Cary is such a disturbing character that he seems far more dangerous than many of the villains Hollywood turns out these days.
However, is Cary the villain? Just because he is a self-serving, unabashed egotist who treats others cruelly, is he any better than Jerry who also is perhaps just as egotistical but not as upfront and honest about it? The line is very blurred, and maybe there really is no line because ultimately everyone, or almost everyone, seems to act immorally, or at least amorally.
Nevertheless, these characters treat each other horribly, and perhaps what gives this film an extra layer of bile are the settings used shot after shot. They all have a ring of familiarity, and the nameless area in which they live seems to accentuate the theme that this could happen anyplace with any friends and any neighbors. Scenes take place in bedrooms, health clubs, restaurants, grocery stores and bookstores, but never is there a shot outside. The characters seem to be trapped by their surroundings, by the interiors, living an urban nightmare.
