There have been many discussions about whether a man and woman can maintain a friendship after being a couple. In my world it has happened, easily for the most part. The girl I dated in 8th grade is still one of my closest friends today. In other relationships, there had to be a time of separation before the friendship could continue forward. I have always felt just because the love aspect did not work out, why would I remove myself from the other facets of the person, that were in synch with mine. Granted, when it comes to the issue of trust being broken, it can be very challenging to proceed with the friendship. I found this movie to be one of the smarter ones to deal with a couple’s separation. Celeste and Jesse, played by Rashida Jones (The Big Year, Our Idiot Brother) and Andy Samberg (That’s My Boy, Friends With Benefits), were going through a divorce while maintaining a close friendship with each other. On a personal level I have seen where that has been hard to do, but I gave credit to Rashida and her writing partner Will McCormack for making this intelligent story more believable. I expected Rashida to be good in this dramatic comedy and was not disappointed. The surprise for me was Andy showing more of a dramatic, serious side than his usual comedic talents. During the scenes where each character talked about seeing other people for dating, I felt they were true to life. The secondary story with Emma Roberts (Valentine’s Day, Nancy Drew) as pop star Riley had a surprise twist to it. Let us face it, relationships take some work; you have to give Celeste and Jesse extra points for working harder at it.

3 stars