Mistress America

Advertised as a screwball comedy, writer-director Noah Baumbach's superficial, self-consciously chic film is peppered with pretentious poppycock. Ambitious 18-year-old wannabe writer Tracy (Lola Kirke) has just begun her first semester at Barnard but is already disillusioned with higher education. And then she meets egocentric, idiosyncratic 30-year-old Brooke (Greta Gerwig), a self-styled interior decorator, SoulCycle instructor, social media maven, and aspiring restaurateur. Brooke's latest passion is for opening an eatery in Brooklyn with the backing of her Greek boyfriend—envisioning a bistro combined with a hair salon and art gallery that would be called “Mom's.” Brooke, of course, has a lot of ideas but, as someone astutely observes, “no follow-through.” Insecure Tracy immediately latches onto seemingly sophisticated Brooke, who becomes her stepsister by marriage when Tracy's divorcee mother marries Brooke's widower father. When deluded Brooke's plans hit a snag and she needs $75,000, a drive to Connecticut ensues in order to confront deceitful, malicious Mamie-Claire (Heather-Lind), who not only married Brooke's wealthy ex-fiancé (Michael Chernus), but also stole Brooke's most commercially viable T-shirt concept. The nervously chattering, ostensibly erudite characters unfortunately never shut up, rambling on and on to the point of viewer exhaustion. Optional. [Note: Blu-ray extras include three promos (7 min.), a photo gallery, trailers, and bonus digital and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a light extras package for a lightweight film.] (S. Granger)