Object of My Affection (1998)

Social worker Nina Borowski (Jennifer Aniston) is a young bright woman who lives in a cozy Brooklyn apartment. Nina's older step-sister Constance Miller (Allison Janney) and her husband Sidney (Alan Alda) have a party where Nina meets George Hanson (Paul Rudd), a young handsome first grade school teacher who is gay. Nina complains to George about her step-sister who is constantly trying to fix her up with somebody from high society, completely ignoring the fact that Nina has a boyfriend. She invites George to move in with her just hours after they meet. As their friendship progresses, she learns she is pregnant, and wants George to act as father to her newborn, much to the consternation of her overbearing boyfriend Vince McBride (John Pankow), who wants marriage. Nina wants independence. George and Nina share an apartment, a taste for tuna casserole dinners, and a devotion to ballroom dancing. They love each other, even though George is gay. George will do anything for some affection, but is he ready to become an unwed surrogate dad?

Everything is perfect until Nina finds out that George had a girlfriend in high school. One afternoon George has a phone call from his ex-boyfriend Dr. Robert Joley (Tim Daly), who tells him how much he has missed him and invites him for the weekend. George is confused but agrees to go. Nina feels threatened and gets jealous. George and Dr. Joley do not get back together but George meets Paul James (Amo Gulinello), a young actor and the two fall head over heels in love. Nina is very sad and cannot control her emotions. They start arguing and at George's brother's wedding Nina tells George about her feelings for him. George who loves Nina as his best friend tells her that he wants Paul. A few hours later Nina gives birth to a beautiful girl she names Molly (Sarah Hyland) and asks George to move out of her apartment before she gets home from the hospital. The end of the film takes place at George's school. All of the characters go to see Molly in a play.

This hip, multilayered comedy takes itself too seriously, although there is some genuine emotion buried in the script. It's not that the relationships are unbelievable, but the story lurches forward from one stilted setup to another. Characters take on major life changes without explanation. However the performances are good, and Rudd does not play a gay stereotype. George Fenton composed the incidental music. Wendy Wasserstein wrote the screenplay adapted from the book of the same title by Stephen McCauley, and Nicholas Hytner directed.

Carrington (1995)

"Carrington" is the true story of the unusual love affair between two nonconformists in Victorian England: boyish painter Dora Carrington (Emma Thompson) and gay author Lytton Strachey (Jonathan Pryce). Carrington is a young English artist who is part of the Bloomsbury Group, a circle of bohemian British writers and artists that includes Virginia Woolf and E.M. Forster, when she meets Strachey in WWI England. Before meeting Carrington, Strachey inquires who the "ravishing boy" is and discovers that it's a woman. Surprised, he finds himself captivated by her, and they begin a 17-year relationship. Their first meetings and the strange attraction that would bind them for the rest of their lives are sketched out in the first few scenes. Although platonic due to Strachey's homosexuality, the passionate bond was nevertheless a deep and complicated one. Strachey is a quiet, dry witted, reserved writer in his 30s when he meets Carrington, who is 15 years younger and still a virgin. Having found her intellectual soul mate, she finds herself indulging in sex with many young attractive men to forget her love for the distinguished author, whose physical love she will never have.

When Carrington develops a more physical relationship with soldier Ralph Partridge (Steven Waddington), Strachey welcomes him as a friend, although Partridge remains somewhat uneasy, not so much with Strachey's lifestyle and sexual orientation as with the fact that he is a conscientious objector. Strachey and Carrington eventually move in together and have a series of offbeat sexual experiences with other members of the group and sometimes even with the same man. Carrington even marries another man, yet their relationship endures until Strachey's death years later.

This touching and intelligent film features excellent acting. Pryce was honored as Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival for his performance. The music score of the film was composed by Michael Nyman, primarily based on his String Quartet No. 3. Christopher Hampton wrote the screenplay based on Michael Holroyd's book. Christopher Hampton also directed.