I spent the first half of this movie pretty sure I was bored… and then second half slowly realizing I was totally bought in. I can’t pinpoint when the switchover happened, but it certainly happened and I was left bemused.

This flick stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus as a New York professor and author who is struggling with her second book. When she overhears her husband saying he secretly hates the book, she goes into a spiral of doubt and recrimination.

This is a comedy that I only chuckled at a few times and a drama about the little lies we tell to keep everyone happy. This is such a relatable premise and the movie handles its permutations well. It doesn’t have a ridiculous hook or unbelievable scenarios… just a human thing that the story and characters rotate around though honest, intelligent conversations.

And yeah, I was a little slow to realize I was enjoying it. It worked its way on me through honest human characters having honest human conversations. It’s a good movie despite my early misgivings. It’s well acted and very well written.

Score: 83