Aniston of the Week: Dream for an Insomniac

Posted on by harrietwarman

For the second edition of Aniston of the Week, we look back to the early days of Jennifer’s career – not the TV years when she appeared as Jeannie in the Ferris Bueller series – but those days after Friends started but before she became a regular in romantic comedies. Jennifer’s first movie was The Leprechaun (Mark Jones, 1993) but we’ll get to that later, instead we’ll explore a movie in which Jennifer plays the role of ‘the best friend’ – a role that would later be typical of actors such as Judy Greer to Aniston’s star turn.

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Aniston as Allison

FILM: Dream for an Insomniac
DIRECTOR: Tiffanie DeBartolo
YEAR: 1996
CHARACTER NAME AND PROFESSION: Allison, aspiring actor.
PLOT SUMMARY: Set in San Francisco, Frankie (Ione Skye) is an orphaned, insomniac, romantic idealist who lives above her uncle Leo’s (Seymour Cassel) café – Café Blue Eyes, where she works occasionally with her cousin Rob (Michael Landes). She and her best friend Allison (Aniston) are due to depart for LA in three days so they can pursue their acting ambitions. Cynical Frankie doesn’t think her ideal man exists because her mother told her not to settle for anything less than the blue eyes (hence the café name) of Frank Sinatra. Lo and behold, in walks David (Mackenzie Astin) one day, a blue-eyed writer looking for a job. Frankie falls for him, but surprise! He has a girlfriend.
CHARACTER TRAITS: Ambitious, nurturing, witty, generous – your basic Best. Friend. Ever.

Aniston as Allison, giving advice like a best friend should.
Aniston as Allison, giving advice like a best friend should.

NOTES ON PERFORMANCE: Aniston had been playing Rachel Green in Friends for two years at this point, and it’s apparent that Allison owes a lot to the Rachel persona, as some of the same mannerisms – hand gestures, expressions etc. – are present, alongside of course THE HAIR. Nevertheless, Aniston basically underplays the role, letting Skye remain the heart of the film. She also gamely adds in this habit of Allison’s to try out different accents in almost every scene (she’s French when introduced) because, y’know, she’s an actor! Her southern drawl is probably the most convincing, but watch out for a scene toward the end in which she’s supposed to be Indian (I think), which is, as you can imagine, just plain wrong.

l-r Sean Blackman, Jennifer Aniston, Ione Skye, Mackenzie Astin
l-r Sean Blackman, Jennifer Aniston, Ione Skye, Mackenzie Astin

NOTES ON FILM: Dream for an Insomniac is shot in black and white for the film’s first 20 minutes and bursts into colour the the moment blue-eyed David shows up, which is but one of the many ways the film references classic Hollywood, and of course Sinatra et al. Pop-cultural references abound elsewhere too, with one scene in which the characters discuss the ‘God’ status of Bono versus Michael Stipe. Like Reality Bites (Ben Stiller, 1994) and Singles (Cameron Crowe, 1992), it’s your essential Gen-X set-up, but unlike those films, Dream for an Insomniac doesn’t convince in its characterisation or setting.

CONCLUSION: Aniston provides effortless charm in a film that tries too hard to be charming.

Introducing: Aniston of the Week

Posted on by harrietwarman

I like Jennifer Aniston. A lot of people do, and some people are indifferent, I’m sure. Some who know me, may be aware that I’ve been planning to write about Ms Aniston for years now, due to my conviction that she’s one of Hollywood’s most talented actors, yet consistently underrated. Jennifer Aniston has been in some really bad films, and A LOT of useless romantic comedies, and every few years she acts in a ‘serious’ film, and audiences and critics alike rush to praise her performance as if she’s never really performed before. That’s my perception of Jennifer anyway. Apparently, she’s also appeared as the cover star of magazines more than any other actor. People say she has a ‘girl next door’ quality that is key to her appeal. I’m not sure if that’s true, I just think she’s brilliant to watch.

In order to really put this long-held conviction to the test, this week I’m introducing a new column: Aniston of the Week. Every week I’ll report on a different Aniston performance, which will mean viewing some films I’ve seen many times before, some I’m looking forward to and some I have until now avoided (perhaps because they also star Adam Sandler). This viewing will be in no particular order but will commit fully to my Aniston attraction. This week, the mainly lamented and long gestating 2015 Bogdanovich comedy.

FILM: She’s Funny That Way  1384870-thumb-300xauto-1200514
DIRECTOR: Peter Bogdanovich
YEAR: 2015
CHARACTER NAME & PROFESSION: Dr Jane, Therapist
PLOT SUMMARY: Screwball comedy about a call girl named Izzy (Imogen Poots) playing a call girl in a play directed by one of her client’s (Owen Wilson) and written by her therapist’s (Aniston) boyfriend (Will Forte), who’s father (George Morfogen) is a private investigator following Izzy for another of her clients, the obsessed Judge Pendergast (Austin Pendleton). It’s basically a lot of backstage shenanigans.
CHARACTER TRAITS: Dr Jane is confident, assertive, judgemental of her clients and constantly breaking patient-doctor confidentiality.

NOTES ON PERFORMANCE: Dr Jane’s character is key to the plot of She’s Funny That Way due to her habit of revealingshes-funny-that-way-dog-walk-clip-m4v-670 one patients problems to another, and Aniston seems to relish her tendency for rawness. She’s introduced having a fight with Forte’s Joshua Fleet on the street, pausing to shout at the annoying potential patient calling her mobile phone out of office hours (that pesky Judge). I particularly liked the line,  “Alright, I’m gonna change my tampon’’, which she says to the old judge while he’s in session with her. It’s a bit clunky – who says that?! But it demonstrates the character’s obliviousness and her self-confidence. Dr Jane doesn’t care what other people think of her, but she does judge them, and this contradiction is what makes her relatable and entertaining. Aniston is assured and controlled, making an (at first) very unlikeable character into the most interesting aspect of the film. While all the other characters slump into exactly the place you expect them to, Dr Jane remains the unpredictable element, seeming to have the most fun.

NOTES ON FILM: From a screenplay Bogdanovich wrote long ago with Louise Stratten, a long time in development and finally supported by Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach, whose own work demonstrates the influence of Bogdanovich’s earlier output. As a consequence the film has an unconsciously retro feel, and relies on some pretty fantastical plot points. If you love Bogdanovich (Noises Off, What’s Up Doc? The Last Picture Show), you’ll nevertheless appreciate it.

CONCLUSION: Aniston saves the day!