A new friend of mine invited me to check out a movie at the San Francisco International Film Fest. At first when I heard the name, I thought it was going to be a documentary about an Asian chick. OOPS. Nope, it’s a movie cowritten by Noah Baumbach + Greta Gerwig!  Even better. I liked Greta in Lola Versus (she seriously saved that terrible movie), so I was pretty excited about checking out the film.  They (and the film)  appeared in a story in The New Yorker last week, so I took it as a sign that it was going to be awesome.

As an extra bonus, Baumbach and Gerwig were both at the screening to answer questions. In the past Gerwig has played  clumsy yet lovable space cadets, and she’s pretty similar in real life. A bit unpolished but utterly charming. Also, whoa she’s really tall. How did I never notice that?

Here’s the official movie blurb:

Frances (Greta Gerwig) lives in New York, but she doesn’t really have an apartment. Frances is an apprentice for a dance company, but shes not really a dancer. Frances has a best friend named Sophie, but they aren’t really speaking anymore. Frances throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as their possible reality dwindles. Frances wants so much more than she has but lives her life with unaccountable joy and lightness. Frances Ha is a modern comic fable that explores New York, friendship,class, ambition, failure, and redemption

Anyway, I really enjoyed the movie. It was pretty short, but all ninety five minutes of it felt intoxicatingly frothy and hopeful about life. It didn’t hurt that it was also beautifully shot on the fly in New York. The film captures pretty well the way that close friendships change over time, and also that unsettled feeling of being left behind as your friends move on to other jobs, cities, relationships.

Definitely a must watch!