'You Hurt My Feelings' review: Julia Louis-Dreyfus's latest dulls down an intriguing setup

Decent writing and a willing star didn't hold the interest for even 90 minutes.

Little white lies always punch above their weight. While it can feel like domestic CNN breaking news happening right in front of your eyes if the subject is anyone but you, being the center of a bullshit claim feels like a nonstop gust of wind in the face. The tiny lies that occur between a husband and wife can be especially detrimental.

That’s where the audience picks up the life of Beth (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Don (Tobias Menzies), a seemingly happy couple living in New York. She’s a novelist who is hitting a sophomore slump with her follow-up to her memoir, with the first draft receiving that dreaded “it’s good but not marketable” feedback. Don is losing his edge as a shrink, seeing the connection with his patients dim all the way down to mockery.

The problem with two people struggling under one roof is that the collision course is already set before the uncomfortable truths start coming out. When Beth accidentally overhears Don giving his *honest* reaction to her latest book, their union is damaged and Nicole Holofcener’s latest spends the rest of the running time bandaging that up.

Here’s the thing about this A24 release: It’s talky, slow-moving, and doesn’t really have a pulse. While the screenplay is sharp in moments and a few laughs are created, I found myself as sleepy as Menzies’ (the one who somehow avoided the Red Wedding massacre) performance by the time You Hurt My Feelings reached its end. It’s not like the moral and message wasn’t received; my reaction was more along the lines of something like, “that’s it?”

Indie films don’t have to move waters and build bridges of emotion in their finales, but something more than a muted, tone-deaf epiphany is required. We never find out what’s driven Beth and Don into this endless ravine of bitterness in their lives; all we know is that Don was TOO honest with his buddy (Arian Moayed, so good on HBO’s Succession). There’s some backstory about Beth’s childhood and how that connected to her success, but it’s never cemented in our minds long enough to care.

Any writer desires appreciation and approval, especially from their partner/spouse. There’s something there, but You Hurt My Feelings goes generic and breezes past it. But there must have been a better way to assemble this story as something more than a Woody Allen meets an episode of Seinfeld riff. Holofcener’s script and direction paints an interesting picture, but rarely climbs out of the snooze mode.

Louis-Dreyfus is relentless in every role she takes on, and the energy does help here in spurts. Scenes with Beth’s sister (Michaela Watkins, slumming in old Kathryn Hahn best friend mode) and mother (the easily hilarious Jeannie Berlin) bring some fireworks out, but it’s not enough.

I found the supporting characters more entertaining and lively than the main duo, and that’s not a good recipe for success in a shorter film. You Hurt My Feelings didn’t take a swing at my mood; it merely wasted my time.

Long story short: Boring. Watch Enough Said instead.

Photo Credit: A24