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| Sumner and Gerwig play in Frances Ha. |
«««1/2 Frances Ha. Written by
Noah Baumbach & Greta Gerwig. Directed by Noah Baumbach. At select theaters.
Imagine "Frank". He's a single 27 year-old
living in New York, pursuing a vaguely artistic career with no realistic chance
of success. He lives paycheck to paycheck, using credit to live just a little
bigger than his means. He's got a girlfriend, but nothing too serious—a
relationship with some chick definitely isn't worth messing up a primo living
arrangement with his best (guy) friend. In short, he's a classic slacker,
another of a lost generation of males who see no particular reason to grow up,
to whom romance is definitely secondary to "bromance". Judd Apatow
has made himself a handsome career rhapsodizing guys like him.
Imagine
further that Apatow has nothing to do with any of this, and that "Frank"
is actually Frances (Greta Gerwig). Now you've got the gist of Noah Baumbach's amusing,
subtly subversive Frances Ha.
Amusing, because like Baumbach's best-known other work, The Squid and the Whale, it combines great sensitivity and
compassion for his characters with an almost absurdist ear for social
relations. And subversive, because it holds that what's sauce for the gander is
sauce for the goose. There really isn’t yet a female equivalent of the word
"bromance" ("gynomance"?), but that's what the script by
Baumbach and Gerwig is getting at.
Being
the epitome of character-driven comedy, Frances depends on lot on the blonde, lissome Gerwig pulling off her
portrayal of Frances in a way that's sympathetic, not pathetic. She does it brilliantly.
Ditzy but proud, she's endearing because she's screwed by circumstances, and endearing
because of her own shortcomings, but mostly she's just adorable. She's
certainly more appealing to watch than Seth Rogen, who's played pretty much
same kind of character elsewhere.
The
most significant figure in Frances' life is her friend Sophie (played by Mickie
Sumner, Sting's daughter), who has a secure career and a worrisomely serious
relationship with a guy named "Patch" (Patrick Heusinger). To
Frances' mind, a mere "Patch" is no substitute for the real thing, which
is the storybook "us against the world" partnership she shares with
Sophie. That Sophie herself is conflicted about her soon-to-be conventional
life only makes their separation more painful.
Are we about to see a
rash of other "gynomances"? Considering that we've already seen the
birth of the female slob comedy (Bridesmaids)
and the female buddy-cop comedy (The Heat),
it seems likely. Real females might mature faster than males, and be more
honestly in touch with their limitations, but they're just as vulnerable to the
whims of a brutal job market that makes slacking seem so appealing by
comparison. As long as the girl slackers are as likeable as Gerwig, I'm in.
But the female equivalents of Seth Rogen or Jason Segel? Not so much.
©
2013 Nicholas Nicastro
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