''Friends with Money'' is a 2006 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film written and directed by

Nicole Holofcener Nicole Holofcener (; born March 22, 1960) is an American film and television director and screenwriter. She has directed six feature films, including ''Walking and Talking'', ''Friends with Money'' and ''Enough Said'', as well as various televisio ...

. It opened the 2006 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2006, and went into limited release in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

on April 7, 2006.

Plot

Olivia is a single, always broke woman who cleans houses in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to make ends meet. She is in a group of wealthy friends consisting of: Franny – a stay at home mom with a large

trust fund A trust is a legal relationship in which the holder of a right gives it to another person or entity who must keep and use it solely for another's benefit. In the Anglo-American common law, the party who entrusts the right is known as the "settl ...

, Christine – a television writer, Jane – a fashion designer, and their husbands. While the disparity in financial situations between Olivia and her friends creates some friction, each woman is facing her own individual struggles. Olivia can't seem to find love or money. Franny's inheritance sometimes causes tension between her and her accountant husband, who likes to spend it. Christine's marriage is falling apart. Jane is increasingly unpleasant because she's not growing old gracefully. Together, these women attend charity benefits, have lunch, lean on each other, and wade their way through life.

Cast

Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress and film producer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Since her career ...

as Olivia *

Catherine Keener Catherine Ann Keener (born March 26, 1959) is an American actress. She has portrayed disgruntled and melancholic yet sympathetic women in independent films, as well as supporting roles in studio films. She has been nominated twice for the Acad ...

as Christine *

Frances McDormand Frances Louise McDormand (born Cynthia Ann Smith; June 23, 1957) is an American actress and producer. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, McDormand has received numerous accolades, including four Academy Awards, two Primetime Em ...

as Jane *

Joan Cusack Joan Mary Cusack (; born October 11, 1962) is an American actress. She received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her roles in the comedy-drama ''Working Girl'' (1988) and the romantic comedy '' In & Out'' (1997) ...

as Franny *

Jason Isaacs Jason Isaacs (born 6 June 1963) is an English actor. Isaac's film roles include Col. Tavington in '' The Patriot'' (2000), Michael D. Steele in '' Black Hawk Down'' (2001), Lucius Malfoy in the ''Harry Potter'' film series (2002–2011), C ...

as David *

Scott Caan Scott Andrew Caan (born August 23, 1976) is an American actor, director, photographer, writer, and former rapper. He received his breakthrough role in ''Ocean’s Eleven'' as Turk Malloy who he played in the ''Ocean's (film series), Ocean’s t ...

as Mike *

Simon McBurney Simon Montagu McBurney (born 25 August 1957) is an English actor, playwright, and theatrical director. He is the founder and artistic director of the Théâtre de Complicité, London. He has had roles in the films '' The Manchurian Candidate'' ...

as Aaron *

Greg Germann Gregory Andrew Germann ( ; born February 26, 1958) is an American actor who is known for playing Richard Fish on the television series '' Ally McBeal'', which earned him a Screen Actors Guild award. He also is known for his roles as Eric "Rico" ...

as Matt *

Marin Hinkle Marin Elizabeth Hinkle (born March 23, 1966) is an American actress. Among many television and movie roles, she is best known for playing Judy Brooks on the ABC television drama ''Once and Again'', Judith Harper-Melnick on the CBS sitcom ''Two ...

as Maya *

Timm Sharp Timm Sharp (born 1978) is an American actor and writer. He is known for his role as Marshall Nesbitt in the Fox sitcom ''Undeclared'', Doug Von Stuessen in the Fox sitcom Til Death'', and Jim in the Starz comedy '' Blunt Talk''. Early life ...

as Richard *

Jake Cherry Jacob Cherry (born September 15, 1996) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the role of Nick Daley in ''Night at the Museum'' (2006) and in its sequel '' Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian'' (2009). Early life Cherry was ...

as Wyatt *

Ty Burrell Tyler Gerald Burrell (born August 22, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. Burrell is best known for his role as Phil Dunphy on the ABC sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in ...

as Other Aaron * Bob Stephenson as Marty

Box office

In its opening weekend in wide release, the film grossed a total of $4.96 million, ranking tenth at the North American

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicke ...

, this soon became $13,367,101 domestically and $18,245,244 worldwide even though it received a limited release in most weeks (under 600 screens).

Critical reception

The film received generally positive reviews from critics. The review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported that 72% of the critics gave the film a positive review, based on 152 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Strong lead performances, witty dialogue and wry observations cement ''Friends With Money'' as another winning dramedy from writer/director Nicole Holofcener."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

reported the film had an average score of 68 out of 100, based on 38 reviews.

Awards and nominations

At the 2006

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with Poly(methyl m ...

, Frances McDormand won the award for Best Supporting Female and Nicole Holofcener was nominated for Best Screenplay. Holofcener also won the Dorothy Arzner Directors Award from the Women in Film Crystal Awards, shared with

Joey Lauren Adams Joey Lauren Adams (born January 9, 1968) is an American actress and director. Adams starred in ''Chasing Amy'', for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and played smaller role ...

for ''

Come Early Morning ''Come Early Morning'' is a 2006 American film starring Ashley Judd and Jeffrey Donovan. It marked the List of directorial debuts, directorial debut of Joey Lauren Adams. The film was shot throughout the metropolitan Little Rock, Arkansas area incl ...

'' and

Lian Lunson Lian Lunson (born 3 February 1959) is an Australian actress who became a filmmaker and author. Biography Lian Lunson was born in Victoria, outside Melbourne. After attending The Ensemble drama school in Sydney and working as an actor, she mov ...

for '' Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man''. Holofcener received a nomination from the

Alliance of Women Film Journalists The Alliance of Women Film Journalists (AWFJ) is a non-profit organization founded in 2006. It is based in New York City and is dedicated to supporting work by and about women in the film industry. The AWFJ is composed of 84 professional female ...

for Best Comedy by or About Women.

Home media

The film was released on DVD on August 29, 2006. It has grossed $29.60m in U.S. DVD/home video rentals.

Soundtrack

References

External links

* * * {{Nicole Holofcener 2000s English-language films 2006 independent films 2000s female buddy films 2006 comedy-drama films 2006 films American comedy-drama films American female buddy films Films about social class Films directed by Nicole Holofcener Films set in Los Angeles Films with screenplays by Nicole Holofcener Sony Pictures Classics films 2000s American films