Movie Review: Celeste and Jesse Forever

by Olivia Saperstein

It didn’t help that I saw the ironically titled Celeste and Jesse Forever post break-up, so consider that a warning. If the humor hadn’t consisted of jacking off with a piece of baby corn and a gay Elijah Wood, I would have desperately sought out the theater’s nearest exit to escape the sweaty interior of the on-screen friendship. Thank goddess some people are just as perverted as I am.

Celeste (Rashida Jones) and Jesse (Andy Samberg) are a couple in the process of a divorce that can’t seem to stay away from each other. They’re so close that their friends quiver in disgust, and I couldn’t really help but do the same when they spoke to one another in faux German accents while exploring a menu at a restaurant. (I know, I know, we’ve all been there). While Celeste feels that the friendship is “normal,” Jesse is still madly in love with her. Samberg’s dopey performance captures Jesse’s sense of delusional attachment perfectly. 

Jones, who is finally in a lead role, nails her portrayal as the controlling Celeste with incisiveness–which may be attributed to that fact that she also co-wrote the film. I can’t help but always want more from her when I see her in roles like Anne Perkins in Parks and Recreation, and oblivious egoism suites her. In fact, rather than a story of love or friendship, this is one of growth and self-discovery, which is how the film successfully avoids the cliche. Despite moments that seem far-fetched, the emotional odyssey that the characters engage in is all too real. Jones and her co-writer/cast-mate Will McCormack ripping a bong is just the icing on the cake. 

Image courtesy of moviecarpet.com

 

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