Answering machines feature prominently in Nicole Holofcener’s Walking and Talking, a romantic comedy about New York yuppies who are always on the telephone. Said Holofcener: “Answering machines are a huge part of your life, especially when you’re dating and you’re living alone in New York.”
Set in the West Village, her film idealizes New York as a cozy little village with no violence and no harrassment on the street.
Holofocener has said that the lovelorn heroine in “Walking and Talking” is based on herself. “I do take my own life–but I leave out plenty–anything that makes me look too horrible. Amelia is somewhat pathetic, needy. If I can get a beautiful actress like Catherine Keener to play me and make people laugh, then I don’t feel embarrassed about what is personal.”
World-premiering at the 1996 Sundance Film Fest, the film was produced by the estimable indie company Good Machine and found an appreciative audience upon theatrical release, grossing $1,297,265 at the box-office.
