Drinking Buddies
The latest from director Joe Swanberg (Hannah Takes the Stairs, Nights and Weekends) is about the tight friendship between Kate (Olivia Wilde) and Luke (Jake Johnson), two coworkers at a brewery who flirt, share lunch, and go out for drinks—and who are both romantically involved with other people. On the surface, these characters are just another installment of Stuff White People Like. Who cares about these hot, drunken people and their nice apartments and glamorous lives? But crank up the microscope and Drinking Buddies has a lot to say about gender dynamics in an age and social milieu where friends often stand in for extended family, where men and women regularly form friendships that don't lead to sex.
by Alison Hallett