Amoeba Music

If you've ever experienced or witnessed the heavy and sometimes odd bond that two girls can have, you will enjoy (or remain bewildered after) seeing this movie. Set in the summer of 1973, Holly and Marina are two neighbors who become best friends in a small London suburb. Holly is the only child of a very conservative Jewish family where her mother and father are still married and highly involved in her progress as an intellect. Her best friend Marina's life serves as an excellent juxtaposition. Her mother is….well, picture a woman with the spirit of a 1930s flapper and the heart of a British teen in the '60s who chain smokes and likes Valium. Her father is a globe-trotting pilot who is never around and her older brother Nat is an attractive lad with a life of his own. The two girls take an oath that summer to be "one" in a place in their minds that they've named "Harina." As time goes on, the two share all of life's disappointments and thrills, but as the girls get older and things get more complicated, the balance of their friendship changes. Holly becomes the only positive force in Marina's unstable and self-destructive existence. And while she only wants happiness for everyone she knows and loves, Holly can't help redeeming her pact and getting involved with Marina's chaotic pastimes, nor can she snuff the growing passion she has for Marina's brother.

The actresses who play the older stages of these two girls are what put the icing on the cake. Holly is played by Michelle Williams—an excellent choice for a character who is a bit mousy, intellectual, and an old-fashioned romantic. Marina is played by Anna Friel, a charismatic and colorful actress who fits the part perfectly. By the time they've hit college, still living together in a flat with other roommates, they've experienced some of the best parts of being young, which include hard drugs and casual sex. The soundtrack of the film is an excellent addition to their exhilaration, and while it is looked down upon to have it be the one of the film's best features, the spirit of this movie survives because of the sounds of The Clash, Wreckless Eric, Scritti Politti, Echo and the Bunnymen, and other landmark artists.

College serves up a whole new batch of trouble for these two, as living with Marina only strengthens Holly's insecurities and allows her to stay buried in jealousy over Marina's luck with men and her brother's letters from home where he raves about his own newfound love. For a while it seems as though both girls, while uncertain about life in general, have found some sort of peace with their friendship. But when Holly becomes interested in their professor (Kyle MacLachlan), Marina's competitive edge and Holly's naiveté produce a chain of events that threaten the happiness of both girls, and in which Holly starts to feel suffocated.

Now I don't why, but every male roommate that I've convinced to watch this movie came away shrugging their shoulders. Every girl that I've shared the film with comes away pleased and/or with stories of their own best-friend-gone-wrong stories. When I bought the DVD, I noticed a London "Times Magazine" review that said, "If you liked Bridget Jones's Diary, you'll love Me Without You!" Personally, I don't think they're anything alike, but then it dawned on me that while this is considered a drama here in the States, those in London might see it as a "chick-flick." Whether you classify it as one or the other, I think it's an awesome time warp into '70s/'80s London and the bittersweet and sometimes dependent relationships girls have in their early friendships.