Greta Gerwig and Lola Kirke take Manhattan in ‘Mistress America’ (Sony Pictures Classics)For his second film of 2015, Noah Baumbach left aside the dyspepsia of his Ben Stiller aging comedy While We’re Young for the fizzier retro ’80s irony of Mistress America, the latest of his off-kilter comedies with his partner Greta Gerwig.
My review of Mistress America, which opens Friday, is at Film Journal:
Like its hero-villain, Brooke, Mistress America tries on many styles in an effort to make something stick. There’s a bleak coming-of-age story here, a breathless escapade through glorious neon Manhattan, a manic-pixie giggle-montage, a satire on writers mining their lives for material, high-toned irony, and a stagy farce. It’s a busier film than Noah Baumbach usually delivers, and not always a cohesive one, with its disparate plot shards often crashing at right angles to each other. Sometimes those collisions make for stinging, loopy, oddball comedy. At other times, they simply confuse…
Forget plotting or sounding out your dialogue. Half the time, the greatest struggle with writing is the fight to just keep going. To that end, anything can potentially help.
I have gotten into baseball recently, and whenever I have trouble writing, I think about the pace of baseball. It’s slow. You strike out a lot, even if you’re great. It’s mostly individual, but when you have to work together, it must be perfect. My desktop picture is of the Red Sox during the World Series. They aren’t winning; they’re just grinding out another play. This, for me, is very helpful to have in my mind while writing.
Keeping up spirits matters. Be your own cheer squad if need be. Whatever it takes to grind it out.
THRILL to Greta Gerwig’s dancing in ‘Frances Ha’ in IMAX!
It’s been nice to see The Onion spicing up their pages with the addition of some bold-faced names lately. Check out, for example, Joyce Carol Oates’ recent advice to aspiring young writers trying to get published (“A good writer should always be curious, constantly looking around for new and more powerful people to sleep with”).
Almost better, though is this satirical piece from director Noah Baumbach (or an Onion staffer doing a nice impersonation of his dry style that’s been used for a few “Shouts & Murmurs” essays in the New Yorker) about his new talky black-and-white micro-budget comedy, Frances Ha; now helpfully providing summer counter-programming for all those who don’t feel like seeing anything with The Rock in it. In short, Baumbach says, you haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen this sucker in 3D:
I just went all out when I was writing it, tailoring every character and scene for maximum impact on a six-story IMAX screen in a 601-person amphitheater…. And the effect, to be honest, is simply stunning. Through the magic of IMAX, every social faux pas, every quiet epiphany, every dinner party, and every awkward conversational exchange practically jumps off the screen. You feel as though you can almost reach out and touch the glass of white wine that a character is drinking. Simply put, no celluloid version of Frances Ha could provide the same visceral impact as witnessing a 30-foot-tall Greta Gerwig towering above the audience as she negotiates her relationship with her best friend or tries to find an apartment, all displayed in vivid black-and-white.
Now, if only it were true; the possibilities are nearly endless.
Mickey Sumner and Greta Gerwig live the perfect friendship in ‘Frances Ha’
Greta Gerwig co-wrote and stars in Frances Ha, the new black-and-white pseudo French New Wave comedy from Noah Baumbach, whose Greenberg served as Gerwig’s calling card to Hollywood. It’s a dark-ish comedy, but with plenty of romp and play that should make it a solid summer offering for those less interested in checking out Fast & Furious 6.
Frances Ha is playing now in limited release, and should expand around the country over the summer.
If life were like school, and grades were actually assigned in this manner, than the titular star of Noah Baumbach’s fresh-faced and spirited black and white comedy Frances Ha would get an “A” for effort. As played by Greta Gerwig, one of the most intriguing and effortless performers on the current American film scene, Frances is a flailing wipeout at life. She’s a dancer who can’t quite dance and a 27-year-old who doesn’t possess furniture, much less any clue as to where her life might lead…
Chris Barsanti 
You must be logged in to post a comment.