Eva (Julia Louis Dreyfus) drags her oversized massage table to various clients’ homes and suddenly we sympathize with her touching, feeling, healing, of everyone else, while she struggles as a lonely single mother. Then we see him, she sees him, Albert (James Gandolfini) across a pool party. He’s not her type. She makes that clear. He’s fat but then again, he’s also funny. And soon she’s smitten…and so are we. Yet, all we can think of as an audience watching Gandolfini’s flirtatious and breath-struggling comments is this man is going to die in real life. Because it’s one of his final films.
But then we accept it. And we like them. And we want them to be a couple. Because Eva and Albert really tap into the joys of dating in mid life…which is to say, it ain’t easy but how great if you find someone easy-going. Eva and Albert are so adorable together, that is until Eva begins to betray him. It seems she’s discovered that she’s been massaging Albert’s ex wife (Catherine Keener.) At first the revelation puts our Eva into a relatable spot, and we too might be inclined to spy on Albert’s history, but as it becomes clear that Albert is falling for her, we fall out of love with our main character, Eva, and that ain’t good. Couldn’t Eva just suggested to Keener to find another masseuse? So what if she’s her only new friend. Not a good enough excuse. When all is revealed, one is left to believe that perhaps forgiveness is what’s needed in middle aged relationships and at a certain age when desperation creeps in, we might not have a choice.
To add insult to injury the film begins to focus on Albert’s weight and it’s a sad reminder of the heart attack that’s forthcoming for Albert’s real life person, James Gandolfini. R.I. P. ♕ ♚ ♛