Jennifer Aniston was in town, showing her brave face to support the opening night film, Friends With Money, directed by Sundance alum Nicole Holofcener. In it she plays a former private school teacher now working as a maid, who remains friends with three rich L.A. housewives (Frances McDormand, Catherine Keener, and Joan Cusack).

Holofcener takes the difficult task of trying to make us like these typically unlikable stock characters, and the performances by the ladies go a long way in helping us along that path. Ultimately, though, the characters are thin, the story goes nowhere, and the ending is a huge cheat. On the flipside, it’s interesting to see a movie where the message is that money does buy happiness.

-Andy Spletzer slogging from Sundance in Park City, Utah