Beth Mitchell (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and her husband Don (Tobias Menzies) are one of those middle-aged couples whose lives seem perfect: She's an academic and a writer with a published memoir and a just-finished novel, he's a psychologist with a busy therapy practice, and the two are empty nesters in a comfortably book-filled Manhattan apartment, with a grown son (Owen Teague) who lives nearby. All seems idyllic — until the day Beth, approaching her husband and brother-in-law in a store, overhears Don saying that he doesn't like her new novel at all, but he can't tell her.
And with that scene, Nicole Holofcener's relationship comedy "You Hurt My Feelings" jumps into focus: The great Louis-Dreyfus lets us see, without a word, how Beth suddenly becomes smaller and more vulnerable, how her world suddenly makes no sense anymore — her face doesn't just fall, but seems to plunge off a cliff. "I need his approval," she says later to her sister (Michaela Watkins), hating the words.
Not much that's dramatic happens in "You Hurt My Feelings"; it's the kind of intimate movie in which we hang out with the main characters, getting a sense of their lives, watching as they go through the kind of angst we might know. Holofcener ("Friends with Money," "Enough Said") is a master of delicate moments in relationships, in which a wife pretends that she loves a gift that she really doesn't, a son expresses how his parents' closeness makes him feel left out, a daughter tolerates the demands of a mother who is fading.
Perhaps "You Hurt My Feelings" is almost too small, but its pinpoint precision is what makes it work: An explosion goes off in a marriage that's comfortable and familiar, and the dust eventually settles, leaving things looking just a bit different. And Louis-Dreyfus, making Beth neurotic and loving and devastated and furious all at once, is a joy to watch. Listen to the noise she makes when Beth and Don's son says that his parents trust each other; it's a nonverbal scoff, a hilariously sarcastic snort, an instinctual expression of disgust. It's a tiny moment but just right; just like this movie.
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‘YOU HURT MY FEELINGS’
3.5 stars (out of 4)
MPA rating: R (for language)
Running time: 1:33
How to watch: In theaters Friday
