Life Partners review: Leighton Meester and Gillian Jacobs play co-dependent soul sisters

We all know the feeling of worry that sets in when your best friend tells you they've got a new other half. The romantic kind. Okay, for the most part, you're pleased for them because we all want our friends to be happy, but particularly if you're very close to said friend, in those few brief moments, it's almost impossible not to think about how your own life will be affected, regardless of how beaming their smile is whilst talking about their new life partner.



First time movie-director Susanna Fogel's depiction of this stage in this particular friendship between straight girl Paige (Gillian Jacobs) and lesbian, Sasha (Leighton Meester) is not only right on the money in it's honesty but is sweetly comical in showing you the best and sometimes, the worst aspects of a best friendship.

Despite relationships being at the centre of the plot, Life Partners makes you think just as much about "life" as it does about actual "partners". 29-year-old Paige is already fully-settled in her career as a lawyer whereas Sasha is struggling to figure out where she wants to go in life whilst keeping up a dead-end job as a receptionist. It's a film that would probably resonate best amongst audience members in their mid-20's, a little lost in life and feeling like they haven't quite got it all together yet. 

On occasional, the film's plot seems all a little on the surface, and you do find yourself wishing that the characters would be a little more fleshed out or at least put into context. We meet the pair well into their friendship and with little backstory on how long they've known each other/where and when they met, it's sometimes hard to feel the intended deep sentiment. You can see the bond, with their in-jokes, traditions (play-arguing in public and watching copious amounts of America's Next Top Model every Friday) and evident interest in each other's happiness, but occasionally, you don't really GET it.

Despite both actresses embodying their roles well, it's truly Meester's film as she outshines Jacobs in nearly every scene they share. Slightly more accustomed to feature-lengths than Community's Jacobs, she knows how to dominate the screen and show that emotional depth alongside those comedic moments whereas Jacobs portrays does come across a little one-dimensional and cardboard cut-out at times. Although, it can be said that her almost wooden performance works well with the character as she is supposed to be a sensible, "boring" person compared to Sasha's more scatty approach to life.

As a pair, Paige and Sasha's friendship IS completely believable and one that nearly every girl will instantly relate to. It's touching without being overly-gushy and seems to get the balance just right between bonding, blubbering and banter between the friends giving it such a natural feel. They tease each other constantly, tell each other exactly how it is and bicker frequently, but you always know that they always have each other's interests at heart by the subconcious sweetness and understanding they display towards each other. At no point does it ever border on cliché, much like when 40's something Manhattan ladies all gossip round a table about their ridiculously over-the-top love lives (here's looking at you, Sex & The City). Scenes where the two are merely cooped up in one of their bedrooms, pyjamas and face-mask adorned seem the most genuine. It's not showy and over-the-top and makes it seem that much more real, because we all know, when you've been truly best friends with someone for so long, you don't really need to try anymore; they're in it for the long haul.