Hateship, Loveship

Johanna Parry must move to a new town to begin work as a housekeeper for Mr. McCauley, an elderly man who needs help keeping house, and to be a caretaker for McCauley's granddaughter, Sabitha. She meets Sabitha's father and McCauley's son-in-law, Ken, who does not live with Sabitha or McCauley, but instead resides in Chicago. Sabitha's best friend, Edith, tells Johanna (after Johanna asks where Sabitha's mother lives) that Ken's wife died several years ago. After inviting Johanna and Sabitha to dinner, Ken writes a friendly note to Johanna, which his daughter delivers. Johanna writes a response letter and Sabitha's friend Edith offers to take it to the post office and mail it. Instead, she intercepts the letter and, as a cruel joke, the two teenagers forge a love note from Ken, addressed to Johanna. Then they set up a fake email account for Ken (who does not have email). They impersonate him, responding to love emails from Johanna. "Ken" calls her "my only friend" but things may change when "Ken" asks Johanna to visit him in Chicago. == Cast ==

• Kristen Wiig as Johanna Parry • Hailee Steinfeld as Sabitha • Guy Pearce as Ken • Jennifer Jason Leigh as Chloe • Nick Nolte as Mr. McCauley • Sami Gayle as Edith • Christine Lahti as Eileen • Grant Case as Mover • Casey Hendershot as Mover • Brett Roedel as Jason • Brian Roedel as Justin • Joel K. Berger as Stevie == Production ==

Filming The shooting of the film, originally titled Hateship, Friendship, began in November 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The film was shot with Arri Alexa digital cameras and Kowa anamorphic lenses. Michael Benaroya is financing the film. == Reception ==

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 51% based on 55 reviews, with an average rating of 6.0/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Kristen Wiig's vibrant performance is almost worth the price of admission -- and it has to be, because Hateship Loveship doesn't have much else going for it." At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post gave the film three stars, praising Johnson's direction. Sheila O’Malley of RogerEbert.com and Dana Stevens of Slate commended Johnson for not veering into melodrama. In contrast, Amy Nicholson of LA Weekly praised the cast, but said the film is "too painful to be uplifting, too private to explore what was clearly child abuse". Bilge Ebiri in Vulture said the film suffers from tonal unevenness and underdeveloped subplots and characters. Wiig's performance as Johanna received near unanimous praise. == References ==