LOVELY AND AMAZING

Neither Lovely Nor Amazing

Jane (Brenda Blethyn), the biological mother of two grown daughters, Michelle (Catherine Keener) and Elizabeth (Emily Mortimer), and of a young African-American adoptee, Annie (Raven Goodwin) undergoes liposuction.

Lovely and Amazing... Michelle half-heartedly attempts to sell bizarre handmade crafts, while ending her loveless marriage. Emily is a pathologically-insecure aspiring actress.

Writing about actors looking for work in Hollywood is a disturbing self-referential new trend. Don't writer/directors have other life experiences they can draw upon?

On a whim, Michelle gets a job at a "one-hour photo shop" (this symbolism eludes me) and nearly has sex with her teenage boss.

After Jane has recuperated, the three birds return to her nest (apparently realizing that they can't fly yet) newly-bonded, despite having had any major epiphanies or revelations.

Many American critics have suggested that Blethyn's weight-y concerns are responsible for Jane and Emily's self-image problems.

Yet Annie, who is stunningly self-aware and articulate, consumes candy and McDonald's with gusto.

THE PITCH: Should have been titled Bland and Insipid.