Frances Ha

This is Noah Baumbach's love letter to his current girlfriend Greta Gerwig, who stars as the title character and co-wrote the script. Frances is an NYC dancer apprentice who really loves her best friend (Mickey Sumner…daughter of Sting!) and has to move apartments a lot. The movie follows her often failed attempts to settle into some kind of groove, a hard thing to do when you take impromptu trips to Paris after getting drunk at a dinner party. Shot in black and white, the film has a nice, natural feel to it, propelled by Gerwig’s quirky performance. The comparisons to vintage Woody Allen are well earned, with Gerwig proving that she is much better in smaller fare (this and Damsels in Distress) than big Hollywood productions (No Strings Attached, Arthur).