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	Flannel Pajamas
	Jeff Lipsky Julianne Nicholson, Justin Kirk, Rebecca Schull, Jamie Harrold, Michelle Federer, Tom Bower, Jamie Harris, Chelsea Altman, Stephanie March 2006		Ever fallen in love? Been in a committed relationship? Hit a rough patch with your partner? Did you fear that it all might fall apart? If the answer to any of those questions is "yes," you may smile, then shudder with recognition, at the brutally honest, painfully realistic drama "Flannel Pajamas." Directing from his own screenplay, indie-film exec Jeff Lipsky displays an unerring ear for the public and private conversations of Nicole and Stuart — an attractive, neurotic, upwardly-mobile Manhattan couple — from their first meeting and infatuation with one another, though a period of sexual fulfillment and general contentment, to marriage and increasing friction, and eventually to a tipping point in their union. There is a cinema verité feel and the smack of autobiography about this potent, no-frills two-hour feature. Its greatest strength lies in the fearless, soul-baring performances Lipsky draws from his lead actors. Julianne Nicholson is a fascinating mix of wariness, carelessness and wholesome appeal as aspiring caterer Nicole, an Irish-Catholic woman from a troubled Midwestern family; and Justin Kirk nails the role of successful Broadway publicist Stuart, a smart, brash, controlling Jewish man from Long Island. Although Nicole and Stuart are drawn together by chemical attraction, his self-centered attitude, her impatience, and their respective friends and backgrounds are emotional time-bombs waiting to go off. Lipsky, like an acolyte of Ingmar Bergman on Woody Allen's turf, hits us with the explosions and exposes us to the fallout.


	Sunday, November 17, 2024





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