Frances (Greta Gerwig) is a 27 year-old dancer, sharing a Brooklyn apartment with her best friend, Sophie (Mickey Sumner). Around the time Sophie announces she’s moving in with her partner, Frances loses both her job and her boyfriend, and is forced to work out how to live her life in the face of all these upheavals.
As soon as the film begins, the inevitable reference point is Manhattan (1979), with its bittersweet life-and-love-in-the-city themes and its gorgeous black-and-white photography. But Frances Ha is more intimate and more modest than Woody Allen’s classic: no conversations about Bergman here.
It actually feels closer in spirit to the great independent American films of the late 80s and 90s – Jim Jarmusch et al – recapturing a lightness of touch that has arguably been missing from the indie scene for quite some time.
It’s very much a 2010s film though, deftly flirting with ironic hipster-ness and brilliantly transcending it. That’s thanks to Greta Gerwig’s potentially irksome but ultimately very affecting performance – not to mention her astute script, co-written with director Baumbach. How you respond to her will most likely determine your enjoyment of the film (she’s in every scene!)
The film is episodic; scenes are generally very short, and composed mostly of brief, static shots; but it all flows very nicely thanks to perfectly judged music, editing, comic timing and a real sense of pathos.
Never just a simple romantic comedy or a coming-of-age drama, but confidently weaving elements from both into a fresh, distinctive whole, it’s far and away Baumbach’s best work yet.
Overall Verdict: A freewheeling yet beautifully coherent gem.
Special Features:
Trailer
Reviewer: Tom René