By Cate Marquis
MISS YOU ALREADY accomplishes a difficult feat: depicting a close friendship between two women without sinking into sentimentality and sappiness. It pulls this trick off mostly through the terrific performances of Toni Collette and Drew Barrymore, and thanks to a script by Morwenna Banks that is packed with humor as well as heart and firm, knowing direction by Catherine Hardwicke.
Collette and Barrymore create a completely believable friendship between gal pals Milly (Collette) and Jess (Barrymore), life-long best friends who have stayed close despite their different personalities and diverging lives in London. These friends tease and joke, which makes their relationship realistic and also makes them seem like people you would like to hang out with. Milly is the out-going one, a risk-taking Brit who is slightly older and definitely bolder. American Jess is more conventional and reserved than flamboyant Milly. Milly and her husband Kit (Dominic Cooper) are financially successful but Jess and her husband Jago (Paddy Constantine) are still struggling financially. Milly has kids but Jess is battling infertility. Still, Jess clearly adores Milly, and Milly feels the same about her. The friends often part by saying “miss you already.”
In this funny, appealing and believable portrait of friendship, the key are the well-drawn characters Collette and Barrymore create as well as a script that gives them the space to play. When Collette’s Milly is diagnosed with cancer and Barrymore’s Jess suddenly gets pregnant, the film runs the risk of dipping into melodrama. But the strong characters and their believable, fun-loving and supportive bond allows the film to avoid this pitfall while giving affecting, touching drama.
Hardwicke does a great job with making this an appealing story by focusing on the friendship, and giving the cast the room to make these relationships real. Even when the script goes a bit off the rails with a trip to Scotland, the strength of the characters and their bond holds the film together. The film also explores how a strong friendship might hold while marriages turn rocky.
MISS YOU ALREADY is not essential viewing but it is a warm-hearted and winning portrait of the bonds of true friendship without false notes, which makes it worth the ticket price.
OVERALL RATING: 3 1/2 OUT OF 5 STARS
MISS YOU ALREADY opens Friday, November 6, 2015
