Review of Celeste & Jesse Forever (2012) by Ola G — 15 Feb 2014

Celeste (Rashida Jones) and Jesse (Andy Samberg) are childhood friends, who become close, got married young and now they're getting divorced. However, Celeste and Jesse still get along well. Celeste is a successful trend analyzer and runs her own media company with her partner, Scott (Elijah Wood). Jesse is an unemployed artist in no hurry to find a job. 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. Celeste finds it harder to move on than she originally thought, so to distract herself, she decides to date other people...

Never been a fan of Andy Samberg and I have little knowledge of Rashida Jones. Not sure what I did expect to experience from "Celeste and Jesse Forever", but it´s a well made romantic comedy in one way, but as well hardly nothing new under the sun. There´s a solid connection between Jones and Samberg and they manage to convince you as their characters. Celeste is as the same time a mess, she´s self occupied and a "knows it all" which makes you like her less. I reckon I like Rashida Jones as her real self, period. She´s charming and she has such a beautiful smile. Jesse is a mess as well, with no proper direction or goal, having a hard time to actually make something out of his life. Thus, non of them are really that likeable in my book. Good support from Wood, McCormack, Graynor and Olsen. Not bad, but nothing special either.