Me Without You
Directed by: Sandra Goldbacher - 1 hour, 47 minutes - UK - 2001 - Color - DVD - 2.35:1
Starring: Michelle Williams, Anna Friel, Kyle MacLachlan, Oliver Milburn, Trudie Styler
Holly and Marina are best friends who refer to themselves collectively as “Harina”, which on a letter-by-letter basis roughly shows the power balance in their relationship. Holly (Williams) is shy, bookish, and envies the confidence of the outgoing and impulsive Marina (Friel). We first meet them in 1973 at age 12, playing trust games with broken glass in the backyard, trying to get Marina’s older brother Nat to join. 5 years later, the girls are partying with Nat’s punk friends, and Holly hooks up with Nat, upsetting Marina who in turn does her best to sabotage the burgeoning relationship. 4 years later, they’re both attending university and the dynamics haven’t changed much, and only get more complicated when they both start dating their professor (MacLachlan, in full Showgirls mid-career skeeve mode), unbeknownst to the other.
Me Without You chronicles a mostly-toxic friendship through the years, but stops short of vilifying any character, and keeps the relationship always believable, sometimes painfully so. Both actresses do excellent work, especially Williams, who even manages a convincing English accent. And, as could probably be expected for a movie about cool kids in the UK spanning the 70s to the 90s, the soundtrack is fantastic, featuring Wreckless Eric, The Clash, and assorted Ants and Bunnymen.
Trailer
IMDB page
Roger Ebert review (3.5/4 stars)
Stephanie Zacharek review (Salon.com) - “This film’s intelligence and forthrightness about the things women sometimes do to one another - and its resoluteness about where the line should be drawn in terms of selflessness between friends - set it head and shoulders above most contemporary movies that deal with friendships between women.”