Celeste and Jesse Forever
| Celeste and Jesse Forever | |
|---|---|
 Film poster |
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| Directed by | Lee Toland Krieger |
| Produced by | Jennifer Todd Suzanne Todd |
| Written by | Rashida Jones Will McCormack |
| Starring | Rashida Jones Andy Samberg Ari Graynor Eric Christian Olsen with Elijah Wood and Emma Roberts |
| Music by | Sunny Levine Zach Cowie |
| Cinematography | David Lanzenberg |
| Editing by | Yana Gorskaya |
| Studio | Envision Media Arts Team Todd |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Classics (USA) Buena Vista International (UK) |
| Release date(s) |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $840,000[1][2] |
| Box office | $3,094,813[3] |
Celeste and Jesse Forever is a 2012 comedy-drama film directed by Lee Toland Krieger. It stars Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg, and was written by Jones and Will McCormack, who also has a role in the film. It was released on August 3, 2012 in New York and Los Angeles.[4]
Contents |
Plot [edit]
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This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (August 2012) |
The film begins with a photo montage detailing Celeste and Jesse's relationship from best friends to high school sweethearts. They eventually marry for six years and are happy together. However, their career aspirations diverge from one another. Celeste is a trend analyzer who runs her own media company with her business partner, Scott (Elijah Wood). Jesse is an unemployed artist in no hurry to find a job. One day Celeste decides to separate but promises to stay friends and date other people. Jesse passively agrees, still in love with her and hoping for her to come back around.
Celeste and Jesse's lack of boundaries after their separation and in the process of divorcing becomes increasingly annoying to their mutual engaged best friends, Beth (Ari Graynor) and Tucker (Eric Christian Olsen). Beth tries to reason with the divorcing couple of the weirdness, but Celeste rationalizes that it is better for her and Jesse to maintain their friendship. Even their other mutual friend Skillz (Will McCormack) agrees that it is time for the two to move on with their lives. Celeste is at first content with her current situation until one day Jesse announces that his new girlfriend Veronica (Rebecca Dayan) is pregnant. She does not take the news well and expresses her concern to Beth who questions about her having second thoughts with the divorce. To distract herself, Celeste decides to date other people.
During her date with Max (Rich Sommer), Celeste runs into Jesse. The encounter becomes awkward for Celeste but not for Max who finds Jesse to be a cool guy. Having gone through his own divorce, Max then confronts her that she's not ready to be dating again and to take her time. After a few more awkward dates with other men, Celeste meets Paul in yoga class and dresses him down for trying to hit on her but eventually warms up to him after meeting him again at a party. In the meantime, Jesse takes on more responsibility for Veronica and their child and matures along the way. Celeste realizes that her decision to divorce Jesse was impulsive and selfish, and wants to reunite with him. They then fight about her controlling nature and his slacker ways and go their separate ways on bad terms.
Celeste later gets a call from Riley Banks (Emma Roberts) whom she bashed earlier in the film for having no taste, who asks her to come over. She arrives at Riley's house to find her in tears. Riley reveals that she has had a secret boyfriend, who she discovered has been cheating on her. They form an unexpected bond over their shared heartbreak and slowly become friends. At a nightclub with Riley, Celeste realizes the logo appeals to Riley's gay fan base, and they could use this to make her the next Lady Gaga. While walking with Riley, Celeste runs into Rupert (Rafi Gavron) a young hot model she had rejected after an awkward date, and introduces him to Riley.
At Beth and Tucker's wedding, Celeste makes a toast. She tells the newlyweds to appreciate each other, to be patient, and to try harder, like she should have. This speech touches Jesse, and he thanks Celeste. They are able to reconcile and become friends again.
On a karaoke date, Celeste informs Paul of her need to take some time to recover from the divorce, to which he understands. We then see Celeste and Jesse finally signing their divorce papers and laughing at each other's inside jokes. Their lawyers look on, confused by their laughter. Celeste wishes Jesse well. She finally asks Jesse if he loves Veronica, to which he responds that he does. Celeste encourages him to keep fighting for it and begins to finally move on with her life and with Paul.
Cast [edit]
- Rashida Jones as Celeste Martin
- Andy Samberg as Jesse Abrams
- Elijah Wood as Scott
- Emma Roberts as Riley Banks
- Eric Christian Olsen as Steve Tucker
- Ari Graynor as Beth
- Chris Messina as Paul
- Will McCormack as Skillz
- Rich Sommer as Max
- Rafi Gavron as Rupert Bates
- Matthew Del Negro as Nick Moran
- Janel Parrish as Savannah
Reception [edit]
Critical reception [edit]
Celeste and Jesse Forever received mainly positive reviews. In his review for Entertainment Weekly, Owen Gleiberman concluded that "it's been a while since a romantic comedy mustered this much charm by looking this much like life."[5]
Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a "Certified Fresh" rating of 70% based on reviews from 106 critics, summarizing as follows: "While it doesn't subvert the genre as incisively as it thinks it does, Celeste and Jesse Forever is a shrewd rom-com that benefits from its likable cast and trumpets the arrival of Rashida Jones as a bona fide big screen talent."[6]
Accolades [edit]
Celeste and Jesse Forever's writers Rashida Jones and Will McCormack were nominated for the 2013 Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay.[7]
Release [edit]
Home media [edit]
Celeste and Jesse Forever was released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 5, 2013.
References [edit]
- ^ Jordan Zakarin (2012-08-01). "Celeste and Jesse Forever': Rashida Jones and Company Stick Together for a Breakup".
- ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/05/celeste-and-jesse-forever-lee-toland-krieger_n_1744094.html
- ^ "Celest and Jesse Forever (2012)". Box Office Mojo. IMDB.
- ^ http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=56408
- ^ Gleiberman, Owen. "Celeste and Jesse Forever." Entertainment Weekly, August 10, 2012, p. 58.
- ^ "Celeste and Jesse Forever (2012)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
- ^ "Best First Screenplay". spiritawards.com. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
