Sir Mix-a-Lot – "Baby Got Back" (1992)

My homeboys tried to warn me

But that butt you got

Makes me so horny!

Enough Said is a 2013 movie starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini as two divorced people who meet at a party and start dating each other.

Nicole Holofcener, who directed Enough Said as well as 2023’s You Hurt My Feelings (which also starred Louis-Dreyfus) got her start in the film biz working for Woody Allen, and her movies are not dissimilar to Allen’s.  

She not only directed Enough Said but also wrote the screenplay, which received almost universal praise from critics.

Holofcener was commended by one reviewer for writing characters “with sufficient depth and wisdom that . . . the actors never seem to be movie stars impersonating people.  Rather, they disappear into the vulnerable and self-doubting characters they play without a hint of the preening vanity that so often causes cinematic performances to seem forced and shallow.”

“Line for line, scene for scene, it is one of the best-written American film comedies in recent memory,” said another critic.  “There’s no one making films right now who writes that kind of dialogue better than Holofcener,” said another.

Not everyone loved Enough Said.  For example, one reviewer found the romantic pairing of Gandolfini with Louis-Dreyfus “implausible” – as did I.

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The two divorced people whose relationship is the focus of Enough Said – Eva (Louis-Dreyfus) and Albert (Gandolfini) – are introduced to each other at a party.  

Their initial meeting is quite awkward because the mutual friend who introduces them immediately blabs to Albert that “Eva was just telling me there are no men at this party that she’s attracted to” – a statement that of course applies to Albert.

Despite that, Albert asks the friend for Eva’s number:

Eva’s friend’s wife: Some guy you met at the party wants your number.

Eva: He’s kind of fat.  He’s got this big belly.

But Eva must have had a change of heart after that conversation because the next scene shows her and Albert killing time waiting for a table at a restaurant by discussing The Real Housewives of Orange County:

Eva: I couldn’t believe what I was watching.  No brains, and the fake cheekbones, and the fake boobs.  Do you like fake boobs?

Albert: No, I like real boobs.

Eva: I’ve got real boobs.

Albert: That’s working out for us, then.

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Albert later pays Eva a compliment, and is given a compliment – sort of – in return:

Albert: You have lovely hands.

 

Eva: You have nice hands, too – kinds of like paddles.

(She’s out of your league, Albert!)

Albert drives Eva back to her hom at the end of the evening.  As they are sitting in his car saying good night, he tries to kiss her.  But she demurs:

Eva: Uh, I’m not sure.  I mean, maybe.

Albert: I understand.

Eva: I mean, I’m just not sure.

Albert awkwardly extends his hand to shake hers, and then this odd exchange takes place:  

Eva: I like your paddles. 

  

Albert (as she is exiting the car): I like your ass.

Eva: Oh, my God . . . well, thank you.

Despite this inauspicious beginning, Eva accepts an invitation to have a second date with Albert and ends up spending the night with him.

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I have a number of problems with Holofcener’s script:

1. Would the very overweight Albert really invite the very hot Eva out after learning that she doesn’t think any of the men at the party – least of all Albert – are attractive?  (I seriously doubt it.)

2. Assuming he does invite her out, would she really accept his invitation given that the first words out of her mouth when his name is mentioned are “He’s kind of fat”?  (That seems unlikely.)

3. Assuming they actually go out, would she really ask if he likes fake boobs and then note that she has real ones?  (I can’t imagine that she would.)

4. After his very awkward and unsuccessful attempt to kiss her goodnight, would he really say “I like your ass” as she got out of his car at the end of the evening?  (Maybe if he had had too much to drink at dinner, but probably not if he hadn’t.)

5. And if he did say that, would she not only accept his invitation for a second date but also go to bed with him at the end of the evening?  (What do you say, ladies?  A guy you don’t find attractive but decide to go to dinner with for some reason tries to kiss you.  When you turn him down and are getting out of the car to walk to your front door, he says “I like your ass.”  Would you really not only go out on a second date with him, but also hop in the sack with him at the end of that date?)

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My first thought about the Enough Said screenplay was that Holofcener doesn’t have a clue about men.  But after thinking some more about it, I’m not sure she has a clue about women either.  

I don’t think you can describe a movie that purports to be realistic  as “one of the best-written American film comedies in recent memory” unless the characters’ behavior is a tad more plausible than the behavior of Eva and Albert in Enough Said. 

I won’t spoil Enough Said for you by revealing what happens between Albert and Eva after their second date, but I don’t think the rest of her screenplay is any more convincing than the part I just described.

You may have a completely different opinion of the Enough Said screenplay than I do.  If so, that’s fine – I respect the opinions of all my loyal readers, even when they are obviously wrong.

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Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” was the second-best-selling song of 1992, and spent five weeks holding down the top spot of the Billboard “Hot 100” chart.

Did you know that Sarah Palin performed the song on Fox’s The Masked Singer in 2019 while dressed as a bear?

Click here to watch the official music video for “Baby Got Back.”

Click here to buy the record from Amazon.