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Dec 04, 2014 By Sarah Winshall Web Exclusive

Life Partners is full of good intentions. The two central characters, best friends Sasha (Leighton Meester) and Paige (Gillian Jacobs), have wonderful chemistry. Unlike many female BFF-driven stories, their relationship isn’t built on cattiness or competition; instead, they actually seem to like one another. They are both single and as they approach thirty, they cling to each other for intimacy and support. When the two girls are alone together they are comfortable, their vocabulary is crass and their banter raunchy.

Unfortunately, the film is more committed to being edgy and relevant than it is to presenting an honest female friendship. The lewd dialogue is as close to a joke as writers Susannah Fogel and her partner, Joni Lefkowitz, can muster. Sasha is a lesbian and in an attempt to normalize her sexuality, the girls are instead overly flippant about it. At one point Sasha asks Paige “Do I look too gay?” to which Paige responds, “But you are gay.” It’s a comedy with no jokes.

When Paige inevitably meets the guy of her dreams (Adam Brody) and starts getting her life together, the friendship suffers. The ensuing, unearned brooding at the center of the film pushes it from stale-but-charming into tedious territory. Meester and Jacobs do their best with the awkward, ‘relevant’ script, but like Paige, the references age too quickly. For a film that is trying desperately to be hip, Life Partners makes even a downtown Los Angeles, lesbian brunch spot seem passé.

www.magpictures.com/lifepartners/

Author rating: 4/10