Frances Ha (B- or 2.5/4 stars)
Greta Gerwig plays 'Frances Ha' (directed by Noah Baumbach & co-written by both him & Gerwig), a self-deprecating, down-on-her-luck 27 yr. old gal trying to live the good life in NYC. She is an apprentice for a NY dance company & longs to be a steady performer in said company, but she isn't quite good enough. Her finances are a big mess. She lives with her BFF, Sophie (Mickey Sumner). But Sophie decides to move on & marry a man Frances doesn't like. She then rents space at a male friend's apartment; and to her credit, she tries hard to a make $$ various ways, including being a wine pourer at a fancy function. Frances throws herself into her lofty dreams, even as the reality of them dwindles. She lives her life with abandon & lightness. But will that always get her by?
You know, I 'liked' Frances. She's quirky, smart, charming ... facing adversity with a sigh & a smirk. Gerwig gives her a real fanciful feel. We sympathize with her Frances to a point. However, he desire to be better, yet lack of ambition/drive made me find her a tad annoying, at times. And though I tried, I found it difficult to care about her overly much. That is a critical component in a slice-of-life story. And I found it even harder to care about a major character, her best friend, Sophie. I was intrigued by Frances' male friends Lev & Benji (Adam Driver, Michael Zegen), but they disappear for the last 1/2 of this 82 minute movie.
We don't learn the origin of the title until the last 10 seconds when she places her name tag in the mailbox of her new apartment, but it doesn't all fit. I take that as a metaphor for the shortcomings in her life. ?? Yes? No? Who knows? It's kinda cute. But like the rest of the film, its cuteness only goes so far. Frances isn't quite endearing enough. Her friends aren't. The metaphors are vague. The story tidies up nicely. But the narrative leading up to it was waning. Now, I enjoyed the black-&-white cinematography; meant, no doubt, to emulate some of Woody Allen's work. But the writing here falls short of most of Allen's works.
Billed as a comic fable about friendship, ambition, failure, & redemption, 'Frances Ha' is actually more depressing than funny. Sure, I chuckled once or twice. But I've laughed more in serious dramas & horror films. I find the film somewhat depressing because, while Frances has a fairly unique persona, she's actually a dime a dozen for young people trying to make something of themselves in NYC today. A lot of 27 yr. olds are not with a career, not settled, not married, and not ... happy. Frances is happy-ish. We see this. But I think that deep down, she's not a happy camper. And I don't believe that the aim of the film was to show her in that light, subversively or otherwise. This film is fine; better than most. But I feel that the quirky lead + her bizarre life choices may alienate some viewers.
You know, I 'liked' Frances. She's quirky, smart, charming ... facing adversity with a sigh & a smirk. Gerwig gives her a real fanciful feel. We sympathize with her Frances to a point. However, he desire to be better, yet lack of ambition/drive made me find her a tad annoying, at times. And though I tried, I found it difficult to care about her overly much. That is a critical component in a slice-of-life story. And I found it even harder to care about a major character, her best friend, Sophie. I was intrigued by Frances' male friends Lev & Benji (Adam Driver, Michael Zegen), but they disappear for the last 1/2 of this 82 minute movie.
We don't learn the origin of the title until the last 10 seconds when she places her name tag in the mailbox of her new apartment, but it doesn't all fit. I take that as a metaphor for the shortcomings in her life. ?? Yes? No? Who knows? It's kinda cute. But like the rest of the film, its cuteness only goes so far. Frances isn't quite endearing enough. Her friends aren't. The metaphors are vague. The story tidies up nicely. But the narrative leading up to it was waning. Now, I enjoyed the black-&-white cinematography; meant, no doubt, to emulate some of Woody Allen's work. But the writing here falls short of most of Allen's works.
Billed as a comic fable about friendship, ambition, failure, & redemption, 'Frances Ha' is actually more depressing than funny. Sure, I chuckled once or twice. But I've laughed more in serious dramas & horror films. I find the film somewhat depressing because, while Frances has a fairly unique persona, she's actually a dime a dozen for young people trying to make something of themselves in NYC today. A lot of 27 yr. olds are not with a career, not settled, not married, and not ... happy. Frances is happy-ish. We see this. But I think that deep down, she's not a happy camper. And I don't believe that the aim of the film was to show her in that light, subversively or otherwise. This film is fine; better than most. But I feel that the quirky lead + her bizarre life choices may alienate some viewers.