Less overtly evil but no more attractive to audiences is JLD’s turn as Shelly, the not-as-tolerant-as-she-likes-to-think mother in You People. The entire film is designed for discomfort and Louis-Dreyfus doesn’t disappoint, doling out microaggressions like they were free samples at Costco. She’s the kind of lady who “hated Gone With the Wind before it was cool,” a prospective mother-in-law more intent on impressing people with her liberal views than being a decent human being. Shades of Selina Meyer, there’s a lot of ugliness hiding just behind Shelly’s America’s Sweetheart smile.
It’s just another chapter in a decade-long run of patently wicked acts, behavior no actor should be able to get away with. For Christ’s sake, she even cursed at Elmo. But doggone it, Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Despite your turn to the dark side, we’re still with you anyway.