Monday, September 24, 2012

Frances Ha (2012) New York Film Festival 2012


Charming comedy about a 27 year old adrift among friends and lovers in New York.

Frances is a dancer living with Sophie her best friend. Francis breaks up with her boyfriend when she refuses to move in with him. She would rather live with  Sophie.  However Sophie wants to move in with another friend in Tribeca. This sends Francis on an odyssey  as she moves from home to home and job to job.

A small scale trifle of a film that produces smile after smile. These are charming people and you will like everyone of them.  You will also have a good time watching them go through there paces.

It's hard to say more than that.

The trouble is that the film isn't that much different than any number of similar small scale comedies. I really do mean that this is like other films, even one that starred Greta Gerwig who played essentially the same character in Lola Versus which played Tribeca earlier this year before getting a brief release. That's not a knock, rather it's more to point out that the film isn't particularly unique over all, other than it's infinitely more entertaining. Seriously this is film where they got it all right.

While I won't gush about the film (even though I heartily recommend it) I will say that the film has several wonderful moments including the use of David Bowie's Modern Love (in a sequence that could fit in Girl Walk//All Day but which is actually a steal from another film) and  the speech of what Frances wants from life and a relationship, which pays off at the end of the film (I teared up).

I really like the film a great deal,and while I don't love it unconditionally  I do think you should see it because rarely do you have this good a time with such great people..

One of my unexpected finds from this years NYFF.

Playing 9/30, 10/4 and 10/10

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