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 & 14 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 McKinnon	...	Hallway Girl (as Andrea Chen)
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.

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Taglines:

from strangers to sisters.

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language including some sexual references

Did You Know?

Trivia

The two stars are Greta Gerwig & Lola Kirke. Kirke played a character named Greta in the thriller Gone Girl (2014), while Gerwig played a character named Lola in the comedy Lola Versus (2012).

---

Goofs

When Brooke's former high school classmate Anna Wheeler approaches Brooke and Tracy in the bar, Anna mentions that she and her husband have recently seen the play Other Desert Cities, which began previews at the Booth Theatre on October 12, 2011 and closed on June 17, 2012. If the film occurs during Tracy's first semester of college and culminates with Thanksgiving dinner with Brooke at Veselka, then the film would occur in fall 2011. However, when the would-be stepsisters walk through Times Square, a marquee for the revival of Annie is visible. The most recent Broadway revival ran at the Palace Theatre from October 3, 2012 (first preview) to January 5, 2014.

---

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.

---

Connections

References Le Amiche (1955)

---

Soundtracks

All That She Wants
Written by Jenny Berggren, Linn Berggren, Jonas Berggren and Ulf Ekberg
Performed by Ace of Base
Courtesy of Playground Music Scandanavia

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.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 September 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mistress America

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$93,206, 16 August 2015

Gross USA:

$2,500,431

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,340,737

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