Mistress America (2015)

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

1. Writing/Acting? I think the writing really good and should keep you engaged. I don't know other Noak Baumbach's works but his fans seem disappointed with this one. Greta Gerwig character reminded me of Alicia Silverstone in "Clueless" and Lola Kirke is just adorable. Both leads were great as well as supporting cast. The writing combined with the acting made it enjoyable similar to movies rated 6.7 or 6.8 in IMDb. 2. Did it make me laugh? Just a little but I watched this alone. Greta Gerwig character gives you the most attempts to laugh.3. Unnecessary, unrealistic components? Scenes from old boyfriends house was a bit silly and unnatural but not over the top. The good writing keeps it in control. You find no special effects of gimmicks.4. Soundtrack? Subconsciously, I might be giving the movie higher ratings because the music put me in the right place. Subtle background songs that seem to have "The Cure" influenced in several scenes. There were other 80's tunes made it flow for me.

This was made by the man who gave us Frances Ha the previous time so on that count I was intrigued and watched eagerly. That one was fresh, vibrant, it captured uncertain life on the crossroads. It felt like American New Wave.This is a bit less, still in the same vein, about youth caught in between stations in life in the big city, a freshman (freshwoman?) in college and as counterpart a woman bracing for 30. They're both in New York, both looking for what the next step ought to be. The young girl is smitten by the other's brash spontaneity, by her ability to throw herself into things and just stir up life as she goes. But we also note that she's self-absorbed, not someone who listens to others or someone who is really mindful of herself or what happens around her. She waves things off but we note this as closeness instead of wakefulness.The young girl is turning all this into a story, the story as the film itself; when her friend reads it, she is irate, feeling betrayed but in another sense denying to see herself from the outside. The movie has moved to a spacious house in Connecticut at that point, going for screwball milling around a stage. At that point I was wishing for the free wandering of Frances.Overall it strikes some of the same sensitivity of portrayal as Frances, some of the same endearment in faces and transient life. It is a bit too cute this time, but within a container of wanting to find out about people in all this modern flux.The parting notion I find poignant. Neither marriage that would have cemented their bond, creating a Thanksgiving gathering each year, nor restaurant dream as hope for a beautiful next life pan out. Which is to say, the journey continues as it always does, she will be on a plane to LA, maybe it will be marvelous, maybe not. It's a film about courage and I'll always urge you to have these films in your life. Transience is such a marvelous thing, embrace it with all you have.

This movie is no more than a couple smiles on your face.If you are looking for a movie about life , this one is for you . Although its labeled as a comedy , i would say that i've found more drama in it than comedy.Half an hour before the end the movie became a little depressing and a little boring for me .Also the cast job was not so good , i don't know why but i found it hard to believe the stuff the actors said , I'm not saying they are bad but they are not good either. The plot is OK , really if it was a little funnier and less depressing this movie could be a decent title , so far it deserves 6/10- from me and a wish i wouldn't have seen it.

Over the years, I've liked some of Noah Baumbach's films, but not others, and this one I'm sorry to say was disappointing. Here, Baumbach directed and co-wrote the script with Greta Gerwig.The underrated and most talented Gerwig also stars in the movie as Brooke, a free spirit who's leading a whirlwind of a life, with a myriad of part-time jobs but looking to close a deal on a new restaurant, in the Williamsburg section of NYC.Lola Kirke co-stars here and gives a fine performance as Tracy, a first year college student at Barnard, aspiring to be a writer but having loads of problems fitting in on campus. Brooke and Tracy are slated to be step sisters when Brooke's father and Tracy's mother marry in the near future.Thus, when Tracy, at the urging of her mother, calls Brooke and they meet for the first time in Manhattan, Tracy finds herself willingly caught up in the cyclone of Brooke's life. Tracy even finds herself using Brooke as inspiration for her short story that she submits to the prestigious Mobius Literary Society at her college.All of this seems well and good, but for me the problem with the movie is in the dialogue, which often came across to me as mostly pretentious, whiny, and even mean-spirited at times. Thus, the characters that emerged were so shallow and self-absorbed that I mostly lost interest in what would happen to any of them. When that happens to me as I view a film, I start checking the time wondering when it will be finally over.Overall, Gerwig and Kirke are solid here, with many actors in supporting roles adding much as well. However, as mentioned the occasional clever or humorous line was overshadowed by dialogue that came across to me as affected and pretentious, leading to surfacy and shallow characters.