Frances Ha | The Coast Halifax

Frances Ha

Funny as hell

Indie power couple Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach wrote Frances Ha together. She stars, he directs. It’s basically a long-form Girls episode (and Adam Driver is even there), wherein lost dancer Frances bumps around New York apartments, an ill-advised weekend to Paris and a complicated relationship with her best friend (Mickey Sumner). Shot in black and white, that and Gerwig’s completely endearing, awkward and naturalistic acting style make it feel a bit My First Film, which is weird because Baumbach typically makes terrifically self-assured movies (The Squid and the Whale, Margot at the Wedding, Greenberg). But it’s funny as all hell and Gerwig is still the best thing in movies right now, and Frances Ha is the best indie comedy of this year (and last year’s festival circuit). Make a double feature out of this and The Heat for a dose of three very different but formidable women running this shit.