Frances Ha

I like it when a film gives you early warning that you need to be in a certain mood to watch it and in the case of France Ha we get just such an opening. Two twenty-something woman goofing around in New York, play- fighting in the park, free-wheeling through the streets and generally not caring who sees or what others think. Being honest it is a beginning that put me on edge somewhat as I have seen too many films where carefree beautiful people seem to live an unaffordable life while also seeming to have no income and no worries other than the artistic/relationship/comedic/beautiful problems that they encounter on their way through the film. The start of the film makes it very clear that at very least this is the territory that we are in.

But yet I really liked it. In reality there is a bit of that in the film because it is not only a world and lifestyle I'm unfamiliar with, but also one that does grate a little and, to be frank, like many other films it does have the feel of hipster fairytale/fantasy about it. The thing it does very well though is to work within this frame and produce an engaging character in Frances who is likable (despite her cutesy quirkiness) and also what she feels and goes through, even if the specifics of her situation are different. The feeling of Frances not really knowing where she is going, bouncing from one flat-share to the next (albeit awesome flats) is very well done and Gerwig delivers it very well, somehow managing to get through all the traps of the genre.

Baumbach's direction and construction is mostly good, but to me he is the one pushing the film in a weaker direction with his approach to the material and the film owes a debt to Gerwig that she manages to find a character for the viewer to go with in spite of everything else. Unless you particularly love the general characters and tropes of the genre you will find this film a potentially hard sell but there is a genuineness at the core of it that makes it work very well.