Eating: A Very Serious Comedy about Women & Food

Three women are celebrating milestone birthdays in Henry Jaglom's film about food. The premise is that one of the party guests is also a filmmaker and is interviewing the other guests about their relationship with food. There are also some "off camera" conversations about men, and other interpersonal relationships. This came off as nothing more than a bunch of rich women whining about how they will never be thin enough, and never be good enough for their boyfriends, husbands or mothers, and never be able to enjoy eating: dieting, starving, and binging were the main topics covered. The tone was misogynistic and none of the women came off as likeable, strong, or secure. When one of the guests of honor, Helene, discovers that her husband is not coming home from a business trip because he is having an affair she goes on an embarassing quest to find out with whom. The backstabbing and cat fighting was really enough to make me want to just turn it off. I did end up finishing the film, but I had to watch in two sittings. I have seen similar films that don't really have a plot but rather "eavesdrop" on party conversations and I remember liking them. This one was just bad though.