I’ve liked all of Nicole Holofcener’s films, especially Can You Ever Forgive Me for which she was nominated for an Oscar. With You Hurt My Feelings, she hasn’t exactly upped the conflict ante, but she has portrayed genuine human beings navigating the rocky waves of real life.
And she’s worked with Julia Louis-Dreyfus before (Enough Said) who is amazingly vulnerable in every dramatic performance I’ve seen her execute. Here she plays a 50’ish writer, wife and mother whose childhood dings still haunt her. Tobias Menzies plays her husband who I had seen in my brief toe in the water of The Crown where he played Prince Philip. Tobias is impressive, holding his own personal stakes of believable, but rarely portrayed, male insecurity. Their son is one of my current favorite young actors and Owen Teague (Montana Story, To Leslie) is given far too little to do here which is a pity, since this guy is a powerhouse, but given the storyline is meant for light comedy/drama, I understand.
You also have to give props when the entire minor character ensemble is great as well: David Cross who doesn’t get enough work, Amber Tamblyn, Michaela Watkins, and Zach Cherry.
You Hurt My Feelings makes you feel like maybe the world isn’t falling apart if we stick together and communicate.
