Oh to be young in New York. Frances Ha is Noah Baumbach’s attempt to take Woody Allen’s neurotic New York away from him while Allen films in Europe. Unlike the cynical Allen, Baumbach makes neuroticism endearing with his lead. Frances Ha touches on the struggles for youth living in the moment versus growing up in a light-hearted manner, although it is a little too self-important to leave a lasting impression.
Frances (Greta Gerwig) is riding high. She shares an apartment in New York with her best friend Sophie (Mickey Summer) and she is working in her dream job (an aspiring dancer). However, circumstances force her to move around the city and surrounding areas with other friends including Lev (Adam Driver), Dan (Michael Esper), and Rachel (Grace Gummer). These different living situations force Frances to look at her own life and compare it to her friends’ and make some decisions about her future.
Baumbach’s artistic flourishes keep Frances Ha from becoming something special. The choice to film Frances Ha in black and white is arbitrary and doesn’t really add anything to the movie. His musical choices are cute but nothing special, and the use of lighting is fine but not special. Frances Ha at times feels like an homage to a Woody Allen film instead of standing on its own.
Frances Ha succeeds due to the themes that any city-dwelling young person has to confront. As someone in a similar age and career path as Frances, I found the situations very relatable. There are many times I feel as though friends have matured beyond my current lifestyle; the question that Frances (and myself) have to deal with is to what extent is personal evolution abandonment of what I really want out of life? These are tough questions that inevitably have to be confronted, and Frances’s journey is showcased through several situations where she hits a crossroads and has to make a difficult life decision. Some decisions are rash, wrong, and eventually well-reasoned. These situations are part of city living, making Frances Ha very accessible to millions of twenty somethings.
We only care about Frances’s fate because of Greta Gerwig. She is Diane Keaton with no Woody Allen; a charming lovable vulnerable woman-child. She squeaks through some tough conversations on optimism and spunk that have a very lyrical honest feel to them. Despite her self-pity and sometimes sheer stupidity, Gerwig is so likable as Frances that we instantly root for her. It is performances like these that hopefully make Gerwig into a star. Adam Driver, Mickey Summer, and Michael Esper turn in solid supporting work, but Gerwig shines above them all.
Frances Ha is not the character’s full name, but there is a nice resolution that describes how her last name becomes “Ha.” It is also a description of the chuckling you will have laughing with and at Frances as she learns how to grow up. Greta Gerwig may be a terrible dancer, but she is a wonderful comedienne and actress.