Celeste and Jesse Forever
I am still in the process of finding exactly what movies I will write about and which ones I won’t. Bear with me. I LOVED just about everything in this movie! What can I say, I am a product of my upbringing, which was the late 1990’s/early 2000’s, so I have a sentimental thing about romcoms. I just love them, I don’t know why. I’ve tried to fight it but when I am going through a hard time, I just have to admit that I need a good romcom to clear my head. This is not a romcom by nature of the plot. The film tells the story of a couple, Celeste and Jesse, as they navigate their divorce while also trying to maintain their relationship and lives. So, not a classic romcom.
The film does focus on the relationship and feelings of these two people, though, which makes it more similar to a romcom than you might think. It’s like a love story happening within a story of people who are falling out of love. I love that- that a divorce causes the formation of a new relationship, it’s not just the destruction of a relationship that once existed. The film is older, from 2012, but obviously the story is timeless and is fitting for anytime. The chemistry shown between the two leads, Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg, was unreal. I felt like they were best friends in real life. It was like the director would yell “cut” and they would just start laughing and joking with each other or something. It’s either that or the writing but I am leaning toward the two lead actors just being close friends, based on the fact that I’ve heard through interviews and articles that both Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg are incredibly fun and easy actors to work with.
Speaking of the two lead actors, I loved both of the lead actors' performances in this film. Rashida Jones, I’ve never watched one of her films and thought she was fun in real life. I have watched her films and thought she was surrounded with funny actors, which made the films funny, but never that she was the one creating the fun. This really changed that, though. It just looked like she was having a good time and enjoying herself, which made her presence onscreen all the more enjoyable. Her character I just got. I don’t get every character the way that I got hers but I did. She is beautiful but not too beautiful to be with someone like Andy Samberg, she was a little cocky but not cocky enough to be annoying, she was fun, which made her appealing to people and made them want to be around her.
I just love Andy Samberg! I have seen most of the films he has been in and he is just a force to behold. It has been so fun and rewarding to watch his career build. From SNL and Hot Rod, to Palm Springs. FYI, Palm Springs, starring Andy Samberg and Cristin Millioti, was one of my favorites if not my favorite film of 2020. It is absolutely perfect. Regardless, he was absolutely wonderful in this film. I would venture to guess that his work in this film challenged him as an actor and caused him to strengthen techniques that he had not worked on a lot because he had to work through a lot of emotions as Jesse. His countenance would change and the weight he would emotionally bring to screen would change depending on what his character was feeling. Not all actors can do that and it was very impressive that he could.
I have somewhat of a thing for Emma Roberts, I guess. I just LOVE her! She kind of bugs me and not all of her films work for me yet I still love her. Her character in this film is blah. She does nothing for the film, if anything, I think she takes away from the film.
I was majorly impressed by the cinematography in this film. In fact, the impressive cinematography is what spurred me to write about the film in the first place. There is a shot about ¾ of the way through the film of an outdoor wedding and the light from the tent lighting the eastern farmland along with lighting some smoke or fog in the air that caused me to mentally exit from the film and think about how picturesque it was. I watched it for a second time the next day and noticed that there were several shots that reflected color and framed things in a way that was just beautiful.
This film reminded me a lot of the film Marriage Story, starring Adam Driver and Scarlett Johanson. It came out in 2019 and was coincidentally my favorite film of that year. I guess I have a type. Anyway, if you get the chance, watch Celeste and Jesse Forever. It is a good film with some really good lead performances.
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