Mistress America (2015)

A lonely college freshman's life is turned upside-down by her impetuous, adventurous stepsister-to-be.

Director:

Noah Baumbach

Writers:

Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig

Stars:

Greta Gerwig, Lola Kirke, Shana Dowdeswell

2 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lola Kirke	...	Tracy
Shana Dowdeswell	...	Ruth
Shelby Rebecca Wong	...	Laura
Alfred Macadam	...	Professor #1
Amy Warren	...	Counselor
Sharon Washington	...	Professor #2
Morgan Lynch	...	Student
Andrea Chen	...	Hallway Girl
Shoba Narayan	...	Hallway Girl (as Shoba Narayanan)
Kathryn Erbe	...	Tracy's Mom
Jasmine Cephas Jones	...	Nicolette
Matthew Shear	...	Tony
Colin Stokes	...	Mobius Guy
Juliet Brett	...	Tiny Girl
Gretchen Young	...	Work Study Woman

Storyline

Tracy, a lonely college freshman in New York, is rescued from her solitude by her soon-to-be stepsister Brooke, an adventurous gal about town who entangles her in alluringly mad schemes. Mistress America is a comedy about dream-chasing, score-settling, makeshift families, and cat-stealing.

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Plot Keywords:

neo screwball comedy | new york city | f rated | female editor | betrayal | 

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Taglines:

from strangers to sisters.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language including some sexual references

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA Brazil

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 September 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled Public School Project

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$234,275, 21 August 2015, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$2,461,121, 4 October 2015

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Searchlight Pictures, RT Features, TSG Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A poster for Brian De Palma's Dressed to Kill (1980) is visible in Tony's room. After directing Mistress America (2015), Noah Baumbach went on to co-direct De Palma (2015), a documentary about the filmmaker.

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Goofs

There is a scene that Tracy is walking on campus with lighted trees on the background. It is actually on the College Walk of Columbia University. And those trees will not be decorated with lights until mid December for the Christmas. But the story happens before Thanksgiving.

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Quotes

Tracy: It was clear that the thing that Meadow wanted most in the world, the thing that she wanted to define her, to give her a place to put her time and talents, her everything, the restaurant, it was clear that it will never happen. The most surprising thing was that Meadow was actually surprised by it. She could see the world with painful accuracy, but she couldn't see herself or her fate. And because I was in love with her I decided I couldn't see it either.

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Connections

Featured in Late Night with Seth Meyers: Anderson Cooper/Greta Gerwig/Tig Notaro (2015)

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Soundtracks

Rosanna
Written by David Paich
Performed by Toto
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Quick, witty, hugely entertaining

For those who saw Frances Ha, the film's overall writing style and pacing will not be a surprise. Saying that however, it doesn't overdo the "cleverness" in the same way Frances Ha did, and overall it kind of works better. Greta Gerwig has never been better. She really steals every second of her screen time and is really just such a marvel to watch. She infuses her own acting style to this in a different way, so it doesn't really feel like any of her other characters. The whole cast here is aces, and it leads to such a great work from the entire ensemble at Mimi Rose's house. I definitely recommend this. It's fast and it's a marvel to watch the characters say the dialogue in such a fun, quick way.