‘Hurt My Feelings’ Feels Good

A rom-com with a real difference from the norm

By Jake Coyle AP Film Writer

If I didn’t like Nicole Holofcener’s latest film, would I tell her?

OK, sure, it wouldn’t be so odd for a critic to give an unvarnished opinion. But what about a sibling? Or a spouse? If they didn’t care for Holofcener’s movie, what’s more important: Being honest or making a loved one feel good about themselves?

Do any of us really want straightforward feedback or do we just want emotional support?

That’s the rich vein that Holofcener, a master of nagging neuroses, mines so expertly in “You Hurt My Feelings” – a film that I very much adored. I swear.

For Holofcener, something as commonplace as little white lies between a married couple is just as fertile territory as, say, time travel is to Christopher Nolan. To her, such a minefield of insecurity is a playground.

And in “You Hurt My Feelings,” it’s glorious – albeit in a profoundly awkward way that can be mortifying – to watch her at play.

Beth (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), a writer, and her husband, Don (Tobias Menzies), a therapist, are a long-married New York couple whose harmonious if humdrum life runs into a crisis at Paragon Sports on Broadway. The trouble isn’t infidelity or even a nasty fight over athletic socks. Don is chatting there with his brother-in-law, Mark (Arian Moayed of “Succession”), when Beth and her sister Sarah (Michaela Watkins) come to meet them.

They approach slowly, wanting to hear what they’re talking about. When they get near, Beth