The Melbourne International Film Festival, Reviewed
The best, the worst, and the weirdest of what's coming to Australian movie screens in coming months.
The Film That Will Make You Want To Move To New York:
Mistress America, dir. Noah Baumbach
Starring: Greta Gerwig, Lola Kirke
Reviewed by: Meg Watson
Between this and Frances Ha, I’m fairly certain I want Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig to adopt me. As the couple’s second writing collaboration, Mistress America sees the pair return to their familiar mixture of wild-eyed optimism and stylish ennui, and with Gerwig in a leading role it’s every bit as infectious as you remember. But, in this latest offering, that’s exactly the point.
Though Gerwig is undoubtedly the focus of most of the film, we’re invited into her world through the eyes of Tracy (Lola Kirke), an 18-year-old creative writing student who’s just moved to New York for university. Failing to make many friends, Tracy seeks the company of Brooke (Gerwig) — her soon-to-be 30-year-old stepsister who lives in the city and an instant relationship forms that teeters between admiration, resentment and all-out love.
Like Baumbach’s depiction of the millenial characters in While We’re Young, Brooke is ridiculous (though not in an unbelievable way). She lives in a hip commercial-zoned apartment in Times Square, is constantly flanked by friends and groupies, and casually walks onto the stages of packed gigs to dance and sing. She does “everything and nothing”; cobbling together a wage from spin classes, tutoring and casual interior decorating while planning to open a restaurant/hairdressers/place to hang out.
But just as Tracy is being intoxicated by the possibilities of this world, Brooke is showing signs of sobering up. She has no real money or assets, old friends have fled the city for family life, and her hip indifference to it all has hurt people — at one point she’s confronted by an old classmate who’s close to tears. Despite neither being completely likeable, the women bounce off one another in unusual and interesting ways that frequently bring fresh insight. This isn’t Ben Stiller wearing a fedora and screaming at young people; there’s some real wisdom to be found about youth, independence and self-assurance, particularly for women.
Despite these larger themes and its overarching heart-on-sleeve intellectualism — the plot literally gets chronicled into a short story for an undergrad lit society — the film’s comedy is what makes it truly shine. Brooke’s narcissism leads to awkward rollicking exchanges that Gerwig navigates superbly, and a fair portion of the film is devoted to the perfect screwball absurdity of an unlikely scene at an ex-fiance’s house in Connecticut.
You may not fall in love with her as so many did in Frances Ha — and to some that may be disappointing — but you’ll definitely enjoy spending this time by her side.
For fans of: Greta Gerwig, life-changing creative inspiration in the big city, Girls
Opening in Australia: October 29