Mistress America

2015’s “Mistress America”, directed by Noah Baumbach.

Starring Greta Gerwig, Lola Kirke, Matthew Shear, Jasmine Cephas-Jones, Kathryn Erbe, Michael Chernus, Heather Lind, and Cindy Cheung.

What is it about?

“MA” is about a docile college freshman (Lola Kirke) who is a literary major at a New York campus. Freshly moved and new to the city, she meets classmates and potential romantic partners (such as Matthew Shear). She also has a newly engaged mother (Kathryn Erbe) who’s fiancée has a daughter who also lives in New York (Greta Gerwig). With her college setting, and with Gerwig’s metropolitan experience/teachings, Kirke is in a particularly fecund position to experience her mid 20’s metamorphosis. Will she able to develop a personality that’s actually worth developing?

Why is it worth seeing?

The somewhat prolific team (and married couple) of Gerwig and Baumbach unite again (both co-writing with her acting and him at the helm) to create another New York City based dramedy about adultlescence (such as 2013’s “Frances Ha”). While the duo’s work can easily be interpreted as some sort of new wave Woody Allen (New York based, young and metropolitan, neurosis saturated), I prefer to think of the zeitgeist here as John Hughes 2.0, if he had made films this millennium about 20-somethings instead of teens. The pulsing contemporary soundtrack, exploratory conversational wanderings of it’s protagonist, and existential ramblings of it’s characters certainly ring some bells and remind me of the times spent in my 20’s becoming whom I am today.

Here, Gerwig reprises a variation of her “Frances” character: bouncing from topic to topic, switching tones constantly; from serious, funny, heartfelt, dramatic, psycho, immature, and in general refusing to stick with any one story about her life… Her Times Square apartment (and subsequent urbane lifestyle) inspires Kirke out of her subservient approach to others, but the cracks in Gerwig’s sleek armour start to show quite quickly, and Kirke starts to understand the line between the fantasy and the reality.

Not that the setting depicted helps Kirke in her journey- Baumbach and Gerwig’s story at one point attempts to cram all the characters into 1 scene and just watches them bounce off each other like ping pong balls. It creates a farcical kind of sketch comedy vibe that is at times hilarious, and other times groan inducing.

While “Mistress” can be a little too in love with itself (and the jealous girlfriend played by Jasmine Cephas-Jones is just plain ridiculous), it’s an authentic portrayal of the urban mid 20’s (predominately white) urban scene that at times can be quite funny.

Rating:

3.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.