You're a middle-aged woman with a big gut and no desire to exercise. Why not try liposuction? You're an aspiring young actress who keeps getting turned down for parts you think you deserve. Why not strip naked and ask an established actor to give you a detailed critique of what's wrong with your body and face? You're a 36-year-old artist who's going nowhere, all your creative aspirations long since reduced to bitter jokes, and then one day a teenage boy flirts with you. Hmm ... why not give it a try? You're an eight-year-old Afro-American girl who's been adopted by a Caucasian woman, and you wish you looked more like her. Why not take steps to alter your appearance?

The answers to these questions are LOVELY AND AMAZING. Writer/director Nicole Holofcener's combination of black comedy and family drama is intelligent, believable, tough-edged, totally free of maudlin sentiment, and ultimately moving. The four women of the Marks family make terrible mistakes; each is damaged by her blunders but also paradoxically enlightened. Brenda Blethyn, Catherine Keener, Emily Mortimer, and Raven Goodwin all deliver outstanding performances. (After the movie, Frosty pointed out that most of the minor characters are also exceptionally well portrayed; obviously some of the credit for all this great acting has to go to the director.)

The final scene is quiet, understated, and charged with emotion. As the credits started to roll, I realized I was crying. Now, when a chick flick brings crusty, cynical old Ants to tears, you know it's the real McCoy. That warm, fuzzy, weepy feeling that most such films try to conjure up through cornball dialogue, emotionally manipulative music, melodramatic acting, and phony plot surprises is, in the case of LOVELY AND AMAZING, hard-earned and genuine.

My rating on the Watson scale: 5