Watching this relationship begin is like a bad car wreck. The couple's relationship progresses way too quickly - before we are able to get to know them well and before they are able to really understand each other. More to the point, Stuart is a first-class, grade A asshole. He's almost impossible to like. What is
interesting is the film's attempt to give us intelligent characters. It is as though Lipsky saw a Woody Allen movie and said, "I want characters who read in my film too!" Except, when Stuart goes off on his complex analysis of Nicole's character, it is more presumptuous than accurate, more like an authorial voice than his. Structurally, Flannel Pajamas is a mess. Many of the "other things" that interfere in this couple's relationship seem to come from left field. This is particularly true of the mother-in-law's antisemitism, which was so radical a departure from the action that I wondered if this film was too autobiographical ... or simply poorly made.But for all its flaws, I found myself charmed by Flannel Pajamas. I think I respect what the film was trying to do, even though it never got there. After all, life's events, which intrude on our relationships, never happen in manner conducive to good story-telling.Overall, see a real Woody Allen movie or Scenes from a Marriage instead, but if you've seen all of these, then scrape Flannel Pajamas off the bottom of the barrel.
January 3, 2011
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