Of course not. They never appear onscreen together.
But they do love to collaborate. In fact, Holofcener has never made a film without Keener (though Keener has appeared in other, non-Holofcener movies, like Death to Smoochy). Since they’re 2-3 together (2006’s Friends with Money being their sole, quasi-failure), here’s hoping they keep at it until they hate each other’s guts!
Sony Classics has stepped in to finance and distribute the as-yet-untitled dramedy, which will also star Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt and Rebecca Hall. Keener and Platt will play a married couple who are waiting for their elderly neighbor to expire so they can acquire her apartment (obviously, this takes place in New York City). Their morbid, wait-it-out plan gets complicated, however, when they become friendly with the old bag’s daughters (played by Peet and Hall). The old woman has yet to be cast, but an offer is out to Meg Ryan. Bad me.
If you haven’t seen Walking and Talking or Lovely & Amazing, you should slide them to the top of your Netflix queue immediately. Holofcener is pretty much the only American filmmaker who knows how to dramatize the lonely plight of single women without descending into shrillness or self-pity. She can be brutal without being mean, and heartfelt without indulging in sentiment. In short, she’s one of the best we’ve got.
And since she won’t make commercially accessible chick flicks, her films tend to gross somewhere between $5 and $10 theatrically. Now that she’s got her first misstep out of the way, expect this latest work to be the best, least-seen movie of whatever year it’s barely released.