WASHINGTON –聽As the August heat gives away to the September breeze, it’s that unique聽time of year when nervous teens arrive for freshman year of college — butterflies filling their bellies.
Corralling those butterflies is聽the goal聽of the new聽screwball comedy “Mistress America.”
Tracy (Lola Kirke) is a聽college freshman with a flair for creative writing, desperately trying to fit into New York City. She befriends a nerdy classmate (Matthew Shear),聽but their friendship is compromised by unrequited love.聽Left in the lurch, she reaches out to her soon-to-be stepsister聽Brooke (Greta Gerwig), who lives the bohemian life uptown. Despite having never met, the two instantly click, as Brooke dreams of starting her own Manhattan restaurant and Tracy聽secretly writes a short story based on聽Brooke titled “Mistress America.” What could go wrong?
Director Noah Baumbach is聽becoming quietly prolific after bursting onto the scene with a screenplay Oscar nomination for “The Squid and the Whale” (2005), starring Owen Kline and Jeff Daniels; writing and directing “Margot at the Wedding” (2007) for Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh; joining聽Wes Anderson to adapt Roald Dahl’s novel into the聽stop-motion gem “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (2009);聽writing and directing Gerwig to a Golden Globe nomination in “Frances Ha” (2012); and directing Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts in the middle-aged comedy “While We’re Young” (2014).
His brand of quirky comedy — often set against New York backdrops —聽deserves instant comparisons to Woody Allen. That would make聽Gerwig his perfect Diane Keaton, only imagine if Keaton helped Woody write his scripts.聽“Mistress America” reunites Gerwig and Baumbach as co-writers for the second time聽after “Frances Ha,” and the result is one hell of a聽smartass script.
Sitting in the theater, your eyes will ping-pong back and forth, trying to keep up with the rapid-fire dialogue, arriving聽with the breakneck repartee聽of classic screwball comedies.
As director, Baumback presents the dialogue in two different styles. At times, he uses聽quick-cutting reaction shots between the actors, creating a聽back-and-forth rhythm like Howard Hawks’ “Bringing Up Baby” (1938) or “His Girl Friday” (1940).聽Other times, he presents a wideshot of multiple actors talking over each other like Robert Altman’s “M*A*S*H” (1970) or “The Player” (1992).
Such a style only works if you have the proper players to pull it off,聽and in this case, the cast is more than up to the challenge. Cindy Cheung聽and Jasmine Cephas Jones turn background characters into dynamite drop-ins, as Cheung’s pregnant book-club guest and Jones’ chess-playing girlfriend steal a getaway sequence in Connecticut. 聽Here, Heather Lind and Joel Marsh Garland are introduced as Brooke’s estranged colleagues in a creative cocktail of stolen ideas,聽secret feelings and class warfare.
Still, “Mistress America” belongs to its two leads — Kirke and Gerwig — who create a complex relationship that undulates between best friends and mentor-mentee.聽Gerwig gets the glory as the obliviously popular Brooke, living with reckless abandon while squatting in an abandoned commercial space like Dustin Hoffman’s Ratso Rizzo in “Midnight Cowboy” (1969).聽But it’s Kirke who does the heavy lifting, elevating a career that’s seen both mainstream roles (Ben Affleck’s sister in “Gone Girl”) and art-house awards (Chopard Trophy for “Female Revelation” at聽Cannes).
As the two play off each other under the watchful eye of Baumbach, we get the聽feeling we’re witnessing some of this generation’s rising stars hitting their stride.聽At times the plot聽feels half-baked聽and the scenes become stagy — but this is screwball comedy we’re talking about!
My advice: lighten up and enjoy the聽84聽minutes of controlled chaos.
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The above rating is based on a 4-star scale. See where the film ranks in our聽. Follow 小萝莉影视 Film Critic Jason Fraley on Twitter .
