Frances Ha

Basically the grown up version of Lady Bird with a black and white filter. Each character has a few unlikeable traits and nothing grand ever happens but that’s exactly how life feels like if you’re a little lost. 7/10

Such a great “late” coming of age. Nice to see a character who’s afraid to grow up but finally does it for herself. Also fun to see how this film could have inspired Gerwig to make Lady Bird.
Highly recommend it.

This movie captures the lightning of life in a bottle. The music is used perfectly. It establishes tropes so effortlessly; it’s an inviting watch. The pace is like memory: it spends appropriate amounts of time and attention according to each subject. Just lovely.

8.75/10

Mixed feelings on this one. It often feels a bit meandering, but I think the good stuff ultimately outweighs the bad.

On one hand Frances’s uncertainty about her path is incredibly relatable. She has talent and drive, yet I found her hard to approach as a character because of her strange, almost emotionless demeanour.

I really liked the look into friendship - specifically how people ‘progress’ through life at different speeds and the strains that creates. Greta Gerwig plays that element very well, she keeps Frances chirpy and optimistic regardless of what’s going wrong, even if does get a bit grating at times.

It’s not my favourite of Baumbach’s, but I always appreciate his methodical and quirky writing. Plus, the film is gorgeous - the black & white really works. Glad to have finally watched.

"so, what do you do?"
"it's kind of hard to explain."
"because ... what you do is complicated?"
"because I don't really do it."
My whole life described in few sentences…

Feels very new-wave and so brilliantly done. Gerwig & Baumbach are allllll over this thing and it's hella relatable