FILM REVIEW: CELESTE AND JESSE FOREVER

Celeste (Rashida Jones) and Jesse (Andy Sandberg) in Celeste and Jesse.

LA smart woman

By Ed Rampell

First of all, let me get this out of the way: Celeste and Jesse Forever is a perfectly entertaining rom-com starring Rashida Jones (who also shares writing and producing credits -- hey, that’s one way to get lead roles!) as Celeste, Saturday Night Live’s Andy Samberg as Jesse, with Chris Messina and French actress-model Rebecca Dayan. The comedy, directed by Lee Toland Krieger (The Vicious Kind) and co-written by Will McCormack (he also plays Jesse’s friend, Skillz, who schemes to get down Celeste’s knickers), mostly takes place in La-La-Land, with some good scenic shots and insights into L.A.’s show biz scene. Celeste, a happening trends prognosticator, has written a wittily titled book, appears in various media spots and co-runs a P.R. firm with Elijah Wood as her obligatory gay guy pal. They rep the obstreperous, trendy, punky pop star du jour Riley (Julia Robert's niece, Emma Roberts), who thinks the 30-something Celeste is over the hill.

The married-title characters seem ideally suited for one another, so, as their mutual friends’ remark with great consternation: why are Celeste and Jesse getting divorced? Good question: Even after announcing their separation Celeste and Jesse continue to live on the same piece of property and remain “best friends.” Aye, there’s the rub in this otherwise enjoyable romantic comedy: Celeste is far smarter than and more accomplished than Jesse, who has some unrealized, unspecified creative ambitions that your humble scribe wasn’t bright enough to get. Never mind that spiritually they are soulmates and remain sexually attracted to one another -- in terms of the bourgeois world, they are unsuited for one another due to I.Q. and income disparity. Because she’s supporting Jesse, whose prospects seem dim, and he’s dimmer than her, Celeste has opted to move on to what she supposes will be greener dating, mating and matrimonial pastures.

But does she unearth them? Jesse finds it easier to get another partner (even if he still prefers his soon to be ex-wife), but the know-it-all Celeste is confounded by returning to the dating scene. What seems to be the problem? Is she too career driven, accomplished and smart for her own good? The most emphasized fact on Rashida Jones’ IMDB bio is that she attended Harvard -- is she saying that intellect and success spoil intelligent women’s romances? If so, what a message to put out to women in the, you know, 21^stcentury.

This film’s arguably reactionary point of view reminded me of that great bit of dialogue in 1987’s Broadcast News, when a male colleague tells Holly Hunter’s not too pretty but extremely brainy producer: “It must be nice to always believe you know better, to always think you're the smartest person in the room.” To which Hunter’s Jane Craig ruefully responds with the heartfelt: “No. It's awful.”

What’s next? A movie advocating the repeal of Title 9 because sports equality threatens boys’ self esteem on the field and in the gym?

Another extraordinarily strange thing about Celeste and Jesse Forever is that while the ethnicity of Jesse (Jewish) and Dayan’s Veronica (Belgian) is revealed, Celeste’s national origins seem to be a taboo topic. In fact, offscreen, Parks and Recreations co-star Rashida Jones is a bi-racial woman, daughter of musician Quincy Jones and Mod Squad actress Peggy Lipton, making their daughter of Russian-Irish-African heritage. But none of this ancestry stuff is mentioned regarding Rashida, who seems to be “post-racial” in the way America was supposed to be after Obama was elected (hey, tell that one to the birthers and Birchers!). Or worse, perhaps Celeste is meant to “pass” for white? If so, holy “Pinky," there Andy!

Another curious thing about this movie with lots of unresolved elements is that although Jesse is never gainfully employed, he dines at fancy L.A. eateries, attends concerts and the like, despite his lack of income. (Is he getting alimony or whut? Inquiring minds want to know.)

The point of this film seems to be that smart (and bi-racial/black?) women are losers in love. But maybe Celeste isn’t as smart as she thinks she is -- by buying into the bourgeois notions of relationships, she has jettisoned true love because her partner doesn’t meet society’s standards as an achiever in the career arena. Celeste seems to earn plenty of money for both of them, but that isn’t enough, so love gets tossed out the window (along with Skillz’s advances, presumably because he’s too much of a slacker). And that is truly stupid, because when it comes to romance, one size relationship doesn’t fit all.

Aside from its apparently anti-feminist polemics, I liked this movie -- in the same way that I can appreciate some of the cinematic sequences in Leni Riefenstahl’s 1938 Olympics documentary, Olympia.