Although coming-of-age films used to revolve around confused adolescents, the demographic has expanded in recent years to incorporate floundering twentysomethings still trying to find themselves. Co-written with his leading lady (and real-life girlfriend), Greta Gerwig, director Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha is an arrested development serio-comedy about a well-educated, yet socially awkward 27-year-old New Yorker named Frances (Gerwig), who enjoys telling people that she and her inseparable college roommate/best friend Sophie (Mickey Sumner) “are the same person with different hair.” But they’re not. Self-absorbed Sophie has a good job in publishing, while disarmingly delusional, self-deprecating Frances is a klutzy apprentice at an artsy modern-dance company.
And while Frances wouldn’t even consider leaving Brooklyn—and Sophie—to move in with her boyfriend, Sophie has no hesitation about ditching Frances, leaving the latter to float from apartment to apartment. Filmed in black-and-white on a miniscule budget (reminiscent of the French New Wave), this is an offbeat female friendship study that may ultimately seem improbable but is consistently engaging. And the title? Peripatetic Frances’s name is Frances Halliday, although only “Ha” fits on the mailbox. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include an “Interpreting Reality” production featurette with director Noah Baumbach, cinematographer Sam Levy, and colorist Pascal Dangin (18 min.), a segment with filmmaker Sarah Polley and co-writer/star Greta Gerwig (17 min.), a segment with filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich and Baumbach (16 min.), a trailer, and a booklet featuring an essay by playwright Annie Baker. Bottom line: a solid extras package for an engaging character study.]