What if the prettiest romantic comedy was a divorce comedy?

In the cinema, rupture is a chestnut tree. And if the films of divorce – the cult Kramer against Kramer, the moving Blue Valentine, the testing Marriage Story – have been successful for a long time, fewer are those that make us see the glass half full. However, in 2012, a small independent nugget managed to deal with the painful subject of divorce with accuracy and humor, but without the strict happy ending. In Celeste and Jesse forever, Lee Toland Krieger’s first feature film, the wonderful Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg, with obvious chemistry, played the newly divorced couple from the title fighting to keep the precious friendship that binds them. Jesse and Celeste are ex-husband and wife, best friends and share everything, their teenage humor and the same roof. Trends forecaster in a communication company, she lives in their old house; a lazy and penniless artist, he lives in their converted garage. Their mutual friends, exasperated at not seeing them change their habits despite their separation six months earlier, will put them face to face with their contradictions, while new loves will put hurt their friendship. If there is comedy and romanticism in Celeste and Jesse forever, it is not a question here of reconquering the being who was loved but of separating in the best possible conditions. See also on Konbini All the sadness of ‘a perfect separationThe main asset of the film is its casting, which knows how to convince us of the beauty of its love story, which took place in two jokes below the belt. To our right, Rashida Jones, the quintessence of cool, a clever mix of talent, humor and sympathy. The far too underrated actress is a heavyweight in the series and appears in particular in the cast of The Office and Parks and Recreation, two of the best comedies in the history of the small screen. But after having played the best friend or the girlfriend by default, the actress decided to compose a tailor-made role, as Kristen Wiig had done the year before with the incomparable Bridesmaids. That’s how she co-wrote the screenplay for Celeste and Jesse Forever with actor Will McCormack, her creative partner and ex-boyfriend, even though their “forever” only lasted three weeks. That’s why we should see Rashida Jones more often in the cinemaTo my left, Andy Samberg, the cool kid of American comedy and fake Hollywood moron, who after the parodies of The Lonely Island, the antics of SNL and his role as a deliberately provocative brat but applied and passionate about his job as a cop in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, played here his first “dramatic” role but not without humor and repartee. Jones and Samberg had already shared the poster in I Love You, Man, a perfect anti-buddy movie that overturned the codes of romantic comedy to question male friendships. Because behind an inoffensive facade, Celeste and Jesse forever raises just issues and very real on the ruptures. How to behave with the ex in question when the cause of the breakup is neither an unforgivable fault nor even a lack of love, but rather differences of aspirations and way of life? How to rebuild your life when your ex is your best friend? What to do when leaving means losing your life partner and your main landmark? Because if the film voluntarily nourishes the hope of a second chance for these two beings with sweet chemistry, there will be no turning back and Celeste and Jesse will end up signing the dreaded divorce papers.Portrait of Andy Samberg , the (false) cretin of Hollywood With the air of indie romantic comedies, Celeste and Jesse forever is actually a very beautiful work on the end of the couple which, without cries, tears and excessive dramatization, makes us feel all the sadness and the waste of a separation that even the principals concerned consider to be perfect. Without completely revolutionizing the genre, Lee Toland Krieger’s feature film fills a gap in the representation of the spectrum of love on screen and tells us above all the story of a man and a woman bound by deep mutual respect. , even when love and marriage are over. Celeste and Jesse Forever is available on VOD on FilmoTV.