“Why is this movie so sad & heartbreaking? Are they gonna get back together eventually? Why am I still sniffling…?” Those are the questions I end up asking when I watch this little known gem of an indie called “Celeste & Jesse Forever.”
A divorce story more than a love story, “Celeste & Jesse Forever” (2012) opens on our lead ‘couple,’ the forever in love Celeste and Jesse (played by Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg respectively) on a dinner date with friends, being all lovey dovey and as happy as two newlyweds on honeymoon…. Until one of their friends (played by Ari Graynor) snaps and reminds them to ‘behave’ like a normal divorced couple because it is making her uncomfortable that they can’t shed their facade of being a forever-in-love, very much together married couple.
From then on, it’s goodbye to the love montage of these two during happier times (beautifully set to Lily Allen’s “Littlest Things”) as they spend the rest of this gradually paced movie navigating through the messy aftermath of splitting up, of dividing up their stuff, of figuring out how to deal with the pent-up feelings that they still have towards each other, and on how to be just friends instead of more than just friends… As well as the epic ‘will they or won’t they move on from each other?’ conundrum.
Andy Samberg and Rashida Jones (who also deserves brownie points for penning the story along with co-writer Will McCormack) share such a crackling chemistry as the childhood sweethearts and soulmates Jesse and Celeste who’ve fallen out of love that it’s hard not to root for them and wish they’d fall back into love. They are both the finest comedians out there, having proven their comic capabilities in shows like “Brooklyn Nine Nine,” “Angie Tribeca,” et al., but here, their versatility as dramatic actors shines through as well.
Samberg, especially, is a revelation in the emotional scenes and there is almost no trace that he is the same dude who pulls off a quirky role like happy go lucky Jake Peralta as he immerses himself completely into the character of Jesse, the man-child who is trying to be better and more mature for the sake of his love life. The supporting cast of Elijah Woods, Danny Messina, Ari Graynor, Will McCormick, Emma Roberts, and many others do a great job and there’s a blink and you’ll miss it cameo by Chris Pine as well. The music too is memorable and suits the bittersweet moments in Celeste and Jesse’s lives.
So, if you’re bored of watching saccharine sweet romances and need a realistic bittersweet slice of life movie for a change or simply something along the lines of “Marriage Story” or “Blue Valentine” that will make you weep buckets for fictional characters who are oh-so-real, give “Celeste & Jesse Forever” a chance. I can’t promise ‘no tears,’ so definitely keep those tissues handy.
