The Marks woman are an idiosyncratic family living in modern-day California. They’re led by matriarch Jane (Brenda Blethyn), who has found a new lease on life as she progresses into old age, choosing to try and regain her youth through cosmetic surgery and flirting with any man who shows her even the slightest bit of attention. In order to feel the joys of motherhood, she has adopted Annie (Raven Goodwin), a young black girl who she adores, and who she is hoping to bring up to be a strong and independent woman. Her two adult children have a very different perspective on this – Michelle (Catherine Keener) is a down-on-her-luck artist who considers her mother’s actions as indicative of an end-of-life crisis, while her sister, Elizabeth (Emily Mortimer), a burgeoning young actress, tries to be more positive, but only because she doesn’t feel like she is able to take more heartbreak, especially since her relationship with Paul (James LeGros) is on the rocks, without much hope of recovery, which only makes her more insecure. The four women are at very different stages of their life, but they’re united in facing their challenges together, supporting each other along the way (although not without a biting statement or below-the-belt joke to help soften the blow of empathy), while they each navigate their individual existential problems. Each of them reinvents themselves – Michelle strikes up a friendship with Jordan (Jake Gyllenhaal), the teenager who runs the local one-hour photo where she works, while Elizabeth finds herself falling for Kevin (Dermot Mulroney), the world-renowned actor she auditioned with, and who takes a very keen interest in the peculiar young woman – but beneath all these different paths, each of the Marks women finds their way to each other, proving that family isn’t always perfect, but there’s no harm in trying to prove otherwise.

As one of the pioneers of the modern wave of independent cinema, Nicole Holofcener has been an incredible influence on legions of filmmakers. Her body of work is undeniably small, but we can easily look at her earlier work to see the genesis of one of cinema’s most remarkable visionaries, someone whose small-scale productions were contrasted by their enormous themes, and the director’s continuous quest to capture some side of the human condition that had never passed through the lens of a camera before. Lovely & Amazing is inarguably not a film that is spoken about very often, both in terms of Holofcener’s career and as a work in general – however, when we find the time to look into it, it’s difficult to deny its impact. This is essentially a small independent comedy that doesn’t have much of a coherent plot, being more of a meandering series of vignettes about the interweaving lives of four women coming to terms with their own particular identities, which is only made more difficult by the hostile social surroundings. Yet, in this very simple premise, Holofcener is able to compose pure magic, creating an unforgettable tapestry that condenses some of life’s most intimidating problems into palatable moments that are filled with wit, heart and nuance, making for an unconditionally enthralling experience that feels simultaneously complex and effortlessly simple. On occasions, we can see the slight flaws in the fabric of the film – some events are a tad too convenient, or a character arc goes in a direction that doesn’t quite reflect the subdued tone of the rest of the film – but for the most part, Lovely & Amazing is an incredibly poignant voyage into the pulsating heart of a passionate family, with Holofcener touching on some daunting concepts with the poise and stark elegance that established her as an essential voice in the first place, and carried her to the point of becoming a revolutionary force in modern independent cinema.

Part of Holofcener’s idiosyncratic vision is the artistic voice she employed throughout her work – she’s not someone accustomed to making inauthentic films, with each one of her productions bearing the sensation of coming directly from the heart. This means that the director often has to sacrifice more convenient aspects of filmmaking in order to pursue her unique approach to telling such honest stories. Ultimately, this means that a great deal of her films centre on characters that would be called unlikable, or even outright despicable, if Holofcener’s distinct style didn’t make them so incredibly compelling. Lovely & Amazing focuses on a small group of characters, none of which are particularly likeable – vanity, stubbornness, insecurity and disrespect are all the primary qualities of the protagonists of this film, which would normally be considered a shortcoming had a conventional film employed even one of these in any of its characters. However, it’s almost undeniable that Holofcener tends to give people more credit than most – her films are lovingly crafted from fragments of reality, repurposed to form blisteringly funny social commentaries that prioritize individual experience over heavy-handed preaching, resulting in films that can be callous and aloof, but have a tenderness lurking just below the surface, which creates a truly stunning experience that keeps the viewer engaged, and the film well on the way to achieving the kind of poignancy that many have strived for, but rarely managed to effectively do without falling apart at the seams. Lovely & Amazing isn’t always successful, and this is one of the only times Holofcener seemed to be legitimately at risk of losing the audience through the characters’ frequent manipulative antics and their refusal to move away from their predilection for self-pity – but it all pulls itself together towards the end, and becomes a staggering work of level-headed social comedy that is as heartwarming as it is caustic and forbidding.

Inarguably, despite being a singular visionary when it comes to independent cinema, Holofcener’s films are isolated to her incredible screenplays or impeccable ability to bring them to life – a great deal of what makes each one of her films so special is the performances that populate them. She’s a masterful director of actors, with the small but dedicated group of performers that have found their way through her career being indicative not only of a gifted writer-director who knows how to craft interesting characters, but also one who manages to find the depth in some of the most unexpected places. Her characters are meaningful and bursting with life – they’re not hackneyed creations composed by following a formula, but rather fully-formed, complex individuals that are often defined by their stark humanity, sometimes even bordering on fatally so. She attracts talented performers to her films, and in return gives them strong work – and no one is more indicative of this than Catherine Keener, an actress whose entire career is connected to Holofcener’s having starred in all but one of her films. Keener is a peculiar actress – she’s able to play any role, and has shown a chameleonic set of skills in absolutely every context. Yet, it’s normally the most subdued work that gives her the chance to excel – her unconventional elegance and willingness to play people who are not particularly likeable, has given her the chance to really excel under the vision of a director whose sensibilities often veer towards giving nuance to the exact kinds of characters that would be antagonistic in more populist fare. Keener is matched by Emily Mortimer and Brenda Blethyn in supporting roles, playing her sister and mother respectively. Both actresses bring the same steadfast dedication to their parts, finding the intricate nuances that govern such characters, and exploiting them with enough restraint to compensate for some of the more obvious moral transgressions that these characters tend to display.

Through constructing such vivid characters, Holofcener conveys a deep understanding of certain issues that manifest with great consistency throughout this film. It’s often easy to dismiss a film like this as sinuous explorations of the banality of life – and while that is true of Lovely & Amazing to a degree, it ignores the wealth of meaning that underpins it, the delicate pursuit of understanding the human condition through addressing it directly. There’s nothing left to the imagination here – Holofcener lays all her emotional curiosities bare, and quietly investigates each one, with a kind of authenticity that is surprising even for as profound a film as this. Essentially, Lovely & Amazing is a film about four women overcoming their various anxieties, addressing their insecurities and developing a sense of self-worth along the way, realizing that they have potential, regardless of what the negative forces around them insist on being true. For some, taking drastic action is the only way of overcoming these problems, while others tend to allow it to fester through battling their demons internally. What is common is that they all go from lamenting their imperfections, to celebrating their best qualities. By the time the film has ended, we’ve been put through the emotional wringer – infidelity, joblessness and flirtations with death have all occupied the previous ninety minutes, standing alongside a kind of comedy that is somehow both fragile and firm in its convictions. It’s a wonderfully buoyant glimpse into the lives of ordinary individuals who are working through their own personal issues, while sharing their experiences with one another, creating a powerful manifesto on the importance of family, and the value in realizing one’s own individuality, and embracing one’s quirks as life-affirming merits, rather than shortcomings that should be squirrelled away.

Holofcener hit all the right notes with Lovely & Amazing, and manages to wrangle some unexpectedly profound storytelling from what is essentially a very quaint comedy with a darker side, always willing to position itself on the outskirts of hauntingly stark commentary that feel much more natural than the more saccharine, sentimental comedy we’re used to seeing from such stories. The director strikes a tremendous balance between the lighthearted humour and the serious discussions that pervade throughout the film. It is a remarkable exploration of the human spirit, done through a simple, unfurnished story of regular people and their routines, which don’t change much, but still manage to undergo a revelatory shift, a result of the shifting mentalities that dominate the film and make it so enthralling. Holofcener is an idiosyncratic filmmaker who isn’t appreciated for her unique approach to her material – but as both a writer and a director, she possesses such a vivacious set of talents, which aid her in weaving these hilarious, heartfelt commentaries on our world, where sardonic humour and meaningful drama co-exist peacefully, without impinging on each other in any way that could be considered overwrought or uninspiring. As a forerunner of modern independent filmmaking, Holofcener established the foundation for these films, and through her straightforward approach to a set of complex themes, she truly set a standard for future directors who followed a similar path in creative descriptive works that prioritize observing the human comedy, rather than shaping it. It makes an enormous difference, and immediately proves that films like Lovely & Amazing truly live up to their title, as well as the wealth of potential that persists throughout such promising works.