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Your Friends & Neighbors
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5.0 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 4 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 4
  3. Negative: 1 out of 4

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  1. MarcusG.
    Oct 17, 2004
    8
    While I won't say that this is a film only because the story was shot rather than staged, I will say that Neil LaBute's work benefits immensely from its actors, who give Your Friends & Neighbors a great cinematic go at things. But the cast is after all directed by LaBute, who gets so deeply into their faces that it soon becomes clear that staging the story as a play would have reduced the visceral impact. LaBute moves the camera around very minimally and blocks out almost all exterior sounds, basically stripping as much production value from the film as possible. It's almost a paradox this film succeeds in such surprisingly poignant ways - moments of feeling most cinema would coax out alongside sweeping violins or frenetic edits. In this film however, spoken lines echo and sting, body language arcs and reverberates, many times leaving a lasting impression on the viewer. The result is not so much a masterstroke as mastercraft. LaBute really shows you your friends and neighbors. And, in this case, as in the case of the "men" of In the Company of Men, take that as a warning.… Expand
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  2. ChadS.
    May 25, 2007
    7
    "Your Friends and Neighbors" is "Husbands and Wives" with gay husbands and lesbian wives. Conditioned over the years by countless films that depict heterosexual relationships, an alternative sexual orientation makes us aware that we unintentionally efface the possibility of latent homosexuality in seemingly straight people. When Terri(Catherine Keener) weeps over her husband's infidelity, it may strike a false note for many viewers(including me) because in most films, the woman is crying over her cheatin' man. Even though Terri is having an affair with Cheri(Nastassja Kinski), an art assistant she met at a museum, we still hold on to our orthodox preconceptions about ideal love(as it's presented in the movies; the love between a man and a woman), and that Terri does has some hidden resevoir of feelings for Jerry(Ben Stiller), a man we thought she abhorred. But late in "Your Friends and Neighbors", Terri tells Jerry(who slept with his best friend's wife) that her affair is more honorable because she "...had the decency to f***** outside their social circle." She seems to be obliquely making reference to Mary(Amy Brenneman), who oddly enough, is the one person who never meets Terri's girlfriend. Terri was probably crying over an unrequited love for Mary. She and her husband have the same taste in women.… Expand
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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
70 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 27 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 27
  3. Negative: 1 out of 27
  1. The New Republic
    Reviewed by: Stanley Kauffmann
    70
    LaBute's dialogue reminds us that, along with that of such others as Hal Hartley and Jim Jarmusch and Whit Stillman, the sheer writing, these days, of some American films is remarkably fine. LaBute has cast his film to match, with people who can handle his dialogue neatly. [31 August 1998, p. 28]
  2. Newsweek
    Reviewed by: David Ansen
    90
    What keeps you in your seat is the acting. Keener, crisply and coolly playing against type, commands the screen. [24 August 1998, p. 58]
  3. Time
    Reviewed by: Richard Corliss
    70
    Jason Patric is the chief sleaze; Ben Stiller adds to his gallery of wormy guys; and Aaron Eckhart is the doleful husband who, when asked who his best lay was, unabashedly answers, "Me." [24 August 1998, p. 85]
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