By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Carrie Preston
Starring: Alia Shawkat | Anne Heche | Kate Rigg | Kellie Overby | Marcia DeBonis | Marylouise Burke | Miriam Shor
Country: united_states
Year: 2012
Running time: 84
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1764636/
Bruce says: “Comparisons to BRIDESMAIDS are inevitable – another female buddy raunch film. That would be unfair. THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID is equally outrageous, but its sentiments are more genuine and its characters have greater depth. And while we’re at it, we could compare Anne Heche to Kristen Wiig. Anne Heche knows how to be part of an ensemble. Wiig never plays off of her peers; her whole performance is strictly a one-hander, rarely does she acknowledge there are other actors in the film. Marcia DeBonis and Melissa McCarthy fare better head-to-head; both have great comedic timing and personalities that ooze delightfully. THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID certainly made me laugh; the laughs in BRIDESMAIDS were few and far between.
“Taking place during the course of a single day THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID is a madcap romp from start to finish. Dee Dee (Anne Heche) and Bebe (Marcia DeBonis) are former co-workers who are best friends, for inexplicable reasons seeing they have little in common. Dee Dee is beautiful and promiscuous, a condition she has perpetuated since her boyfriend of seven years left her. Bebe is the ugly duckling who is readying herself for a big date with a guy she met at a wine tasting and brought home for a romp in the hay. Hey, she hadn’t been laid in ‘one year and eighteen months’ so a little indiscretion is permissible. The two women meet in Lucky Joe’s coffee shop. Bebe arrives first and befriends Clementine (Alia Shawkat) a young woman who is noticeably distraught. Dee Dee arrives an hour late. Her ex and his new girlfriend appear shortly thereafter. Dee Dee behaves shamelessly and the three women are kicked out. Clementine, is a sex addict, as truth becomes known. She tags along with her two new friends as they prepare Bebe for her date. Nothing goes right or well throughout the day as they walk from New York’s Upper West Side to Chinatown. New York is a definite character in the film, always menacing, proving how many obstacles it holds.
“Later the threesome dart into another Lucky Joe’s and end up in a brawl in the lady’s room. The owner’s octogenarian wife faints when she stumbles upon Clementine wielding a dildo. Bebe gets bruised and bopped on the head by the nonagenarian owner and Dee Dee gets humped by the old codger when he trips over the dildo and falls on top of her. He dies shortly thereafter. Tragedy, we discover, can be a good thing.
“THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID is about how women bond and support one another. BRIDESMAIDS is a film about how women learn they should bond after directing calculated atrocities on one another. To be honest both films could benefit from better scripts. THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID could be tighter; BRIDESMAIDS could be rewritten. It is a treat to see many wonderful New York stage actors – Kristine Nielsen, Marylouise Burke, Miriam Shor – in cameo roles. After years of sexless character parts, veteran Marcia DeBonis (L.I.E., THE TRUMAN SHOW, TWELVE AND HOLDING, TADPOLE, ANGELA’S ASHES, JUDY BERLIN) gets bumped up to a starring role. She is a talented lady and justly deserving this due. 3.5 cats
“(THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID screened at the 2012 Soho International Film festival in New York City.)”