A presentation of the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival (where it was the first film to be snapped up for distribution) LOVELY AND AMAZING is a dysfunctional-family farce unlike any other.  Written and directed by acclaimed young filmmaker Nicole Holofcener (WALKING AND TALKING), the film's sharp dialogue, quirky wit and clever perceptions about the intricacies of ever-evolving relationships make it the smartest film about women to come along in quite a while. 

Holofcener has assembled an outstanding ensemble cast to play her believably eccentric and conflicted characters - a mother and three daughters - who are forced by an unexpected event to break out of their cycles of anxious self-absorption in order to help each other. 

Elizabeth Marks (Brenda Blethyn, LITTLE VOICE, SECRETS AND LIES) is a wealthy, vain matriarch who is seriously considering liposuction.  Michelle (Catherine Keener, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH) is floundering in a lifeless marriage while trying desperately to find herself as an artist.  Jane (fine British actress Emily Mortimer) is an aspiring actress who is thrown into a frenzy when she is passed over for a role opposite callous movie star Kevin McCabe (Dermot Mulroney, MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING). Youngest daughter Annie, who is an adopted African-American child, is intelligent, curious, disrespectful of authority and painfully yearning to be white.  Keener is captivating, no matter how neurotic her character becomes, while Blethyn creates another expert portrait of a contemporary mother.  Sharply exploring the issue of women and their bodies with humorous and insightful moments, LOVELY AND AMAZING avoids the trappings of sentimental chick-flicks by treating the characters' many follies with a delightful, satirical style.