Object of My Affection, The (1998)

New York social worker Nina Borowski (Jennifer Aniston of Friends fame) learns she’s pregnant by Vince McBride (John Pankow), the lawyer she dates but doesn’t love.

George Hanson (Paul Rudd) is a gay grade-school teacher with whom Nina shares her deepest feelings. She also rents him a spare room in her Brooklyn apartment.

A kindred spirit when it comes to food, art, and ballroom dancing (they take lessons), George is the one Nina asks to help raise her child.

“What about Vince?” he asks. Nina responds, “He’s not home to me – you are”.

Problems arise when Nina finds herself sexually drawn to George, and George begins to respond.

Picking up where Julia Roberts and Rupert Everett dared not go in My Best Friend’s Wedding (namely, the bedroom), they are soon fondling, lip-locking, nearly fucking – which makes George a mass of conflicted feelings (and the film’s most compelling character).

Director Nicholas Hytner tackles the issue with uncommon intelligence and humour.

George first meets Nina at a snob dinner party thrown by Nina’s sister, Constance (Allison Janney) – whose husband, Sidney (Alan Alda), is a name-dropping literary agent – honouring George for having directed her daughter in the school play.

Happy times until until George learns at the party that he is being dumped by his vain lover, Dr Robert Joley (Tim Daly).

That’s when Nina invites George to move in. Why not? They’re both among the walking romantic wounded.

It’s Nina who raises the sexual temperature of their relationship. “Who’s the first person you ever slept with?” asks Nina, who is thrilled when George names a girl. Cuddling in bed, Nina puts her hands on George’s chest, kisses him hotly and tugs at his pants. George knows they’ve gone too far; Nina doesn’t.

To unlight her fire, George brings home a lover, Paul (Amo Gulinello), for noisy sex. Nina feels rejected. Ditto Paul’s mentor, ageing drama critic Rodney Fraser, beautifully played by Nigel Hawthorne.

“One shouldn’t be too hard on oneself if the object of one’s affection returns the favour with less enthusiasm than one might have hoped,” says the critic in a futile effort to console Nina and himself.

In these scenes, the film transcends its gay/straight theme to cut to the imbalance at the core of all relationships. Aniston and Rudd show us how friendship is more complicated than sex, which is one reason The Object of My Affection is the most provocative of date flicks.

George Hanson
Paul Rudd
Nina Borowski
Jennifer Aniston
Sally Miller
Lauren Pratt
Melissa Marx
Kali Rocha
Nathan
Liam Aiken
Sidney Miller
Alan Alda
Constance Miller
Allison Janney
Vince McBride
John Pankow
Dr Robert Joley
Tim Daly
Stephen Saint
Bradley White
Mrs Sarni
Marilyn Dobrin
Nina’s Colleague
Midori Nakamura
Madame Reynolds
Joan Copeland
Frank Hanson
Steve Zahn
Kennedy
Kate Jennings Grant
Dr Goldstein
Bruce Altman
Mr Shapiro
Salem Ludwig
Mrs Ochoa
Antonia Rey
Nina’s Dance Partner
Danny Darrow
Mermaid
Hayden Panettiere
Violin Player
Lauren Chen
Steve Casillo
Gabriel Macht
Colin Powell
Miguel Maldonado
Mrs Skinner
Bette Henritze
Rodney Fraser
Nigel Hawthorne
Paul James
Amo Gulinello
Carmelita
Iraida Polanco
Louis Crowley
Kevin Carroll
Caroline Colucci
Sarah Knowlton

Director
Nicholas Hytner