Plot
A pregnant New York social worker begins to develop romantic feelings for her gay best friend, and decides she'd rather raise her child with him, much to the dismay of her overbearing boyfriend.

Release Year: 1998

Rating: 5.9/10 (9,790 voted)

Critic's Score: 51/100

Director: Nicholas Hytner

Stars: Jennifer Aniston, Paul Rudd, Kali Rocha

Storyline
George and Nina seem like the perfect couple. They share a cozy Brooklyn apartment, a taste for tuna casserole dinners, and a devotion to ballroom dancing. They love each other. There's only one hitch: George is gay. And when Nina announces she's pregnant, things get especially complicated. Vince - Nina's overbearing boyfriend and the baby's father-wants marriage. Nina wants independence. George will do anything for a little unqualified affection, but is he ready to become an unwed surrogate dad?

Writers: Stephen McCauley, Wendy Wasserstein

Cast:
Paul Rudd - George Hanson
Kali Rocha - Melissa Marx
Jennifer Aniston - Nina Borowski
Lena Cardwell - Girl at Community Center
Natalie B. Kikkenborg - Girl at Community Center
Lauren Pratt - Sally Miller
Hayden Panettiere - Mermaid
Lauren Chen - Violin Player
Liam Aiken - Nathan
Alan Alda - Sidney Miller
Allison Janney - Constance Miller
Tim Daly - Dr. Robert Joley
Janet Zarish - Dinner Guest
Ellen Tobie - Dinner Guest
Virl Andrick - Dinner Guest

Taglines: Sometimes The Most Desirable Relationship Is The One You Can't Have

Release Date: 17 April 1998

Filming Locations: Central Park Zoo, Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $9,725,855 (USA) (19 April 1998) (1890 Screens)

Gross: $29,106,737 (USA) (28 June 1998)

Runtime: 111 min

Trivia:
George tells Nina that his date for his high school prom (the one to whom he showed a "good time") was named Lucy Jane. In a display of her offbeat sense of humor, that is the name of screenwriter Wendy Wasserstein's daughter.

Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: In the scene at the beginning, where Nathan and George were peeping out from behind the curtains at the school play, and Nathan asks who George is waiting for, Liam Aiken mouths Paul Rudd's next line.

Quotes:
Rodney Fraser: One shouldn't be too hard on oneself when the object of one's affection returns the favor with rather less enthusiasm than one might have hoped.

It took some time, but it was worth it.

Rating:

I didn't actually know what to make of this film when I first saw it. I couldn't decide whether it was entertaining or dull. I'm a huge fan of both Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd, so I figured even if it was abysmal I could still enjoy their performances. But it just confused me. Part of me decided that it was an engaging, sweet film with a real story to tell and some brilliant characters. The other part thought it was a boring, patronising attempt at a comedy drama. I didn't want to judge it straight away; I thought that it must just have been an acquired taste. Well, thankfully, I gave it the chance. After watching it a few more times over, The Object Of My Affection completely won me over. Yes, there may have been some rather questionable moments during the proceedings, but, as a whole, it was a pretty damn good film.

Nina Borowski is a social worker, George Hanson a school teacher. After a chance encounter at a casual dinner party thrown by Nina's step-sister Constance, they become fast friends. Seeing as George's boyfriend Dr. Joley finishes their relationship, George moves in with Nina and they seemingly become the perfect couple. But since George is gay, that's out of the question, and they are simply the best of friends. When Nina becomes pregnant by her boyfriend Vince, she realises that Vince isn't the one for her. She asks George if he will raise the baby with her, and become their own special "family". Despite his initial reservations, George decides to accept her offer, but things slowly begin to take a bad turn when Nina realises her real feelings for George. George finds love with Paul, a young budding actor, and his friendship with Nina comes under threat.

I won't deny it, if Aniston and Rudd hadn't appeared in this film I probably wouldn't have thought twice about it. But they do bring their irresistible charm to the piece. Aniston plays Nina perfectly; her character was everything that I expected. She will obviously always be remembered for her role as Rachel in Friends, but she knows how to deliver a first-rate performance. Rudd was fine as George, if a little unrealistic, but since this is Hollywood, I wasn't expecting a true portrayal of gay life. The supporting cast were great, and a very nice surprise indeed. Nigel Hawthorne turns up rather unexpectedly as Rodney, but is always a treat to watch. John Pankow is fairly good as overbearing Vince, whilst Alan Alda and Allison Janney are excellent as snobbish couple Sydney and Constance. There are also some memorable turns from Tim Daly and Amo Gulinello. The Object Of My Affection was definitely a unique film; I didn't imagine it would take so long for a film to capture me. Still, that time was well spent. I'll carry on revisiting it from time to time, as that special something in it has yet to fade on me. An interesting, yet worthy film.

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