A Wistful, Funny, Wonderful Goodbye

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Funny, Wistful “Enough Said”

There is an unmistakable aura of melancholia hanging over the otherwise funny and engaging romantic comedy “Enough Said.” The sadness comes with the realization this was the last major motion picture role for James Gandolfini, who died prematurely and unexpectedly June 19, 2013 at age 51.

You will see a side of Gandolfini you never saw in “The Sopranos” or other tough guy roles he was famous for.

Gandolfini is Albert, a lovable slob of a divorced single father in Los Angeles with joint custody of his college-bound daughter Tess (Eve Hewson) with ex-wife Marianne (Catherine Keener), a famous poet.

Marianne is a new client of massage therapist Eva (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), herself a divorced single mom with a daughter Ellen (Tracey Fairaway) who is preparing to go east to Sarah Lawrence College.

Eva meets Albert at a party and something clicks. Eva confides to her best friend Sarah (Toni Collette) that although he is “not classically handsome,” she finds Albert somehow attractive.

Writer-director Nicole Holfcenter’s script is refreshingly rational, grown-up and wise to the problems divorced parents face.

There is a genuine chemistry between a surprisingly sparkling Gandolfini and the brilliant comic actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus. This becomes apparent when we actually feel sorry for the characters when things do not go as planned.

If ever there was a “date flick’ for divorced people, this is it.