Best movie of the year so far
"Frances Ha" (2013 release; 86 min.) brings the story of Frances (played by Greta Gerwig), a 27 yr. woman living in New York with an iffy job in a dance company. As the movie opens we see Frances spending time with her best friend Sophie (played by Mickey Sumner, a/k/a the daughter of Sting). When Frances' boyfriend asks her to move in with him, she refuses, saying she cannot get out of her lease (but in reality simply wanting to stay with Sophie). The boyfriend breaks up with her. Shortly thereafter Sophie surprises Frances when she wants to movie out to her dream apartment in Tribeca ("I'm not leaving you! I'm just moving neighborhoods!"). This starts a series of events that seemingly puts Frances in a downward spiral. To tell you much more of the plot would surely ruin your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Several comments: first and foremost, this is an out-of-the-park homerun for director Noah Baumbach (previous efforts...
This beautiful film has a real identity…
I’m not entirely familiar with Noah Baumbach’s body of work. I’ve seen two of his other films, ‘Greenburg’ and ‘The Squid & the Whale’ and I really liked both of them. They shared a similar tonal approach and yet ‘The Squid & the Whale’ felt very much like a Wes Anderson film to me, while ‘Greenburg’ felt a little more grounded in realism (not saying that it’s the better film, because it’s not). With ‘Frances Ha’, Baumbach adds yet another layer to his stylistic approach and delivers something I wasn’t expecting and really responded to.
This is, by far, my favorite of the three films.
Briskly paced and yet filled to the brim with development, ‘Frances Ha’ has a real firm hold on its identity and it understands how to engineer itself to be as effective as possible. There is no fat here, the film just flows from scene to scene, and the character...
A young woman getting her act together
This is a theatrical review. It may contain spoilers.
I've seen several of Noah Baumbach's films as well as those of his girlfriend and star in this film Greta Gerwig. I've always found Gerwig's characters to be a bit odd but still very likable. This is her best film yet.
She plays Frances, a 28 year old understudy at a small New York ballet company. She's not very good, but she doesn't know it. Her best friend and roommate, Sophie (Sting's daughter Mickey Sumner) have an unusual friendship but Sophie decides to move in with her boyfriend (Michael Esper). This leaves Sophie in a bit of a lurch as their lease is up for renewal. She temporarily moves in with a couple dudes (Adam Driver and Michael Zegen) who are friends of a friend. Eventually she loses her position in the ballet because of financial cutbacks.
As Frances sputters away from her dream of being a dancer and yes, finding a guy - friends joke she's undatable - she finds refuge with her...
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