WASHINGTON – As the August heat gives away to the September breeze, it’s that unique time of year when nervous teens arrive for freshman year of college — butterflies filling their bellies.
Corralling those butterflies is the goal of the new screwball comedy “Mistress America.”
Tracy (Lola Kirke) is a college freshman with a flair for creative writing, desperately trying to fit into New York City. She befriends a nerdy classmate (Matthew Shear), but their friendship is compromised by unrequited love. Left in the lurch, she reaches out to her soon-to-be stepsister 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 secretly writes a short story based on Brooke titled “Mistress America.” What could go wrong?
Director Noah Baumbach is 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 Wes Anderson to adapt Roald Dahl’s novel into the stop-motion gem “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (2009); 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 — deserves instant comparisons to Woody Allen. That would make Gerwig his perfect Diane Keaton, only imagine if Keaton helped Woody write his scripts. “Mistress America” reunites Gerwig and Baumbach as co-writers for the second time after “Frances Ha,” and the result is one hell of a smartass script.
Sitting in the theater, your eyes will ping-pong back and forth, trying to keep up with the rapid-fire dialogue, arriving with the breakneck repartee of classic screwball comedies.
As director, Baumback presents the dialogue in two different styles. At times, he uses quick-cutting reaction shots between the actors, creating a back-and-forth rhythm like Howard Hawks’ “Bringing Up Baby” (1938) or “His Girl Friday” (1940). 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, and in this case, the cast is more than up to the challenge. Cindy Cheung 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. Here, Heather Lind and Joel Marsh Garland are introduced as Brooke’s estranged colleagues in a creative cocktail of stolen ideas, 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. 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). 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 Cannes).
As the two play off each other under the watchful eye of Baumbach, we get the feeling we’re witnessing some of this generation’s rising stars hitting their stride. At times the plot feels half-baked and the scenes become stagy — but this is screwball comedy we’re talking about!
My advice: lighten up and enjoy the 84 minutes of controlled chaos.
★ ★ ★
The above rating is based on a 4-star scale. See where the film ranks in our Fraley Film Guide. Follow WTOP Film Critic Jason Fraley on Twitter @JFrayWTOP.
