Frances Ha

Directed by Noah Baumbuch, “Frances Ha” is a 2012 dramedy centered around a struggling modern dancer in New York City and her determined yet aimless exploits as she enters her 30s.

Off-beat Frances and her best friend Sophie share the ideal kind of closeness. Their friendship is relatable in its honesty as they sit wearing only button down shirts on their window sills, smoking cigarettes and criticizing one another’s mannerisms and reading to each other and falling into uncontrollable fits of laughter. They fight over who reads the most. They flop on each other’s mattresses and always sleep in Sophie’s bed. Frances leaves her boyfriend when he asked to move in with her because the thought of leaving her apartment with Sophie is too sudden, too frightening. Their dialogue is natural, unstaged, something easy to jump in on and understand.

But the relationship is always imperfect—Sophie moves a little too quickly, professionally, artificially and by-the-books. She and her boyfriend, comically named Patch, continue to get closer throughout the movie as she ascends the professional ladder at her publishing house. Frances is perhaps too stuck in a liberal arts mindset, lolling and enjoying her days, unsure of what is to come as she attempts to succeed as a modern dancer. Sophie is impatient and eager and their growing apart is painful to watch. It serves as a millennial’s cautionary tale on both ends of the conventional spectrum of success.

Each thing Frances does garners a shake of the head, a painful or exasperated sigh as you know she’s not doing it right. She skins her knee running to the ATM to pay for a date. She flies to Paris on a whim, spending her savings on plane tickets, but only spending two days in France in order to return on time for a job interview that was ultimately insignificant; she didn’t have a chance at the position. While in Paris, she sleeps through the entirety of one of her days. It is frustrating and pathetic and Frances, gawky and blonde, is unsuccessful though lovable in her quirkiness. She talks like she has marbles in her mouth, and her eyes are sleepy, her nails bitten in each conversation.

Her debacles are endearing to all except those who are put off by her perceived lack of drive and look on blank-faced as she tries to explain her need for money and her unexpected outbursts.

The black and white style is striking, though it is hard to determine just what purpose it serves. In our opinion, this stylistic choice seemed like a pretentious grapple for a distinguishing aesthetic. But this has been done before, Woody Allen’s classic, “Manhattan” originally used the outdated black and white aesthetic to its benefit. And because “Frances Ha” also takes place primarily in New York, it feels like something of a forced tribute to past directors and past times.

Although the black and white look was a cause for annoyance for us, it did not severely detract from the rest of the film.

The soundtrack fits just right; it is plucky, poppy (when it needs to be) and sad at times. Frances dances to “Modern Love,” weaving her long legs through the crowds on city streets. She scuffs (yes, ironically) through Paris to “Ever1s A Winner” by Hot Chocolate. Stuck in our heads for days after.

Easily accessible on Netflix’s Watch Instantly, “Frances Ha” is an enjoyable 86 minutes. Wandering through Frances and Sophie’s comedic yet pitiful early 30s is poignant in its bluntness.