As "You Hurt My Feelings" (2023 release; 95 min.) opens, Don, a therapist, listens to a married couple who won't stop arguing. We then meet Beth, who in married to Don. She teaches a writing class at the New School. Beth as published a memoir and is now working on her first fiction book. Then one day, by complete coincidence Beth catches Don making some unkind comments about her work-in-progress, to Beth's utter shock...
Couple of comments: this is the latest from writer-director Nicole Holofcener ("Friends With Money",
"Can You Ever Forgive Me?"). Here she examines what it means when someone is saying things they don't really mean: are they lying or are they merely trying to be supportive? The movie is carried by outstanding performances including Tobias Menzies (as Don),Michaela Watkins (as Sarah, Beth's sister), Jeannie Berlin (as Beth's and Sarah's mother), and last but certainly not least, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Beth. This is her second film directed by Holofcener after "Enough Said", and in fact one can easily feel the common DNA of "You Hurt My Feelings" with "Enough Said.
"You Hurt My Feelings" premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival to immediate acclaim. There is good reason why this movie is currently rated 95% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. It recently received a US theatrical release. The Sunday early evening screening where I saw this at my art-house theater here in Cincinnati was attended so-so (about 10 people). If you are a fan of Julia Louis-Dreyfus, or enjoyed "Enough Said", I'd readily suggest you check it out and draw your own conclusion.
