Starring: Greta Gerwig, Lola Kirke, Heather Lind
Mistress America
Director: Noah Baumbach
Rating: 4/5
Noah Baumbach is one of the most exciting filmmakers around and is back in the director's chair this week with his new comedy Mistress America.
Mistress America is the second film from Baumbach this year - his first was While We're Young - as he reunites with actress Greta Gerwig for the first time since Frances Ha. As well as being in the director's chair, Baumbach has also teamed up with Gerwig to pen the screenplay.
In Mistress America, Tracy (Lola Kirke) is a lonely college freshman in New York, having neither the exciting university experience nor the glamorous metropolitan lifestyle she envisioned.
But when she is taken in by her soon-to-be stepsister, Brooke (Greta Gerwig) - a resident of Times Square and adventurous gal about town - she is rescued from her disappointment and seduced by Brooke's alluringly mad schemes.
I have always been a huge fan of Baumbach's character driven stories and movies and Mistress America is another charmer from the filmmaker. This time around, Baumbach has explored the complicated nature of female relationships
There's a great energy and chemistry between Greta Gerwig - who continues to make a name for herself - and Lola Kirke and it is this relationship and these actresses that make this movie what it is.
This is a rich and intelligent movies with Baumbach and Gerwig writing a script that really allows you to see inside of these central characters, including their fantasies, desires, and ambitions. Gerwig and Kirke have also got under the skin of these characters to make them relatable and incredibly real. There is something in the way that these characters want to push themselves forward, make a name for themselves, and succeed that we can all relate to.
Mistress America is a movie that doesn't hang about - it is a very swift eighty four minutes - and yet, every moment is packed with spark and energy that really does light up the screen and gives the film a real buzz.
Mistress America manages to pull together some interesting themes, ideas, and characters together in what appears to be a rather laid-back style, which has become quite synonymous with Baumbach as a director.
For me, Mistress America is one of Baumbach's warmest and funniest movies to date and he really has got the best out of his two leads stars - Gerwig and Kirke are fantastic and I loved their touching and frank performances.
Over the years, Baumbach has delivered quite a series of movies that are terrific character studies and Mistress America is very much in that vein with Baumbach having a very strong understanding of his subject matter.
Mistress America is out now.
Tagged in Noah Baumbach