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The Object of My Affection "One shouldn't be too hard on oneself if the object of our affection returns the favour with less enthusiasm than one might have hoped." Nor, one should add, should one blame the other party. The Object of My Affection proves that a film doesn't need to be pretentious to be satisfying. It deals with real people and human concerns without needless underlining or symbolism. This is a thoroughly satisfying film -- the characters act consistently, which means that everyone pretty much ends up with their best match.

Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston in The Object of My Affection Photos: Barry Wetcher

The Object of My Affection is being hailed as a watershed film, it presents homosexuals as a rich variety of individuals, with many roles: worker, friend, parent, lover, advisor, and with weaknesses and strengths. We learn through Dr Joly (Tim Daly) that all-men-are-liars is about individual behaviour, not sexual politics, or perhaps that sexual politics ignores such minor concerns as adult partner preferences. The film begins with the meeting of George (Paul Rudd) and Nina (Jennifer Aniston). She unwittingly is the one to inform her newly-met friend that he is being dumped. He takes up residence in her spare room, and begins to claim his permanent place in her heart. She suggests that they take dance lessons, and soon they are sharing life's highs and lows, including the ramifications of her impending pregnancy to George (John Pankow). As the film develops, Nina suggests that they raise her child together, not as a married couple, but as a co-operative friendship. Just about all the "I"s are dotted and all the "T"s are crossed in this film, we meet the president of Mothers of Latino lesbians, we see relationships between different sexes, the same sexes, different education levels, different earning-scales, different religions, and different races. We even have a bit of safe sex/positive self-image courtesy of our heroine's social work with teenagers.

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The Object of My Affection denies many stereotypes, and gives the characters an opportunity to decry the hoariest, most bitter myths in sexual politics. "I used to give women lots of opinions. Now I go with the flow." - Police Officer Freud doesn't know dick about women. - Nina It also avoided anyone using the misogynistic F.H. term to stereotype Nina, although I've noticed it used in other reviews. Nigel Hawthorne, Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston in The Object of My Affection One of the greatest joys of this film is the academic critic played by Nigel Hawthorne. Hawthorne is one of Britain's national treasures, and he delivers the pivotal lines of wisdom and insight in The Object of My Affection. Our characters learn a lot about the nature of families, and that it is not the nuclear family as much as the extended family (of blood relatives and friends) that provides us with the most options and the most opportunities for love.

	Ali Kayn See also: Jennifer Aniston also appeared in Picture Perfect For credits and official site details, click here. Search Festivale for more
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Enter movie, TV show, or person   Provided by Internet Movie Database.	Just the facts: Title: The Object of My Affection (1998) Written by: Wendy Wasserstein Directed by: Nicholas Hytner Produced by: Laurence Mark Edited by: Director of Photography:
	The Players: Jennifer Aniston, Paul Rudd, John Pankow
	Official website
	For session times of current films, use the cinema listings on the Movie links page. For scheduled release dates, see the coming attractions section.

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