Mistress America

One of the most underrated indie delights of 2015 is Noah Baumbach's "Mistress America," written by Baumbach and star (and girlfriend) Greta Gerwig, someone who should be part of the Awards conversation this year, but sadly so far, is not.

Fresh off their collaboration on the terrific (and equally underrated) "Francis Ha," Baumbach and Gerwig deliver an insightful, screwball look at loneliness, ambition, friendship, relationships and notions of how far we should be allowed to go when it comes to writing about someone we know. The film reminded me of Bogdanovich at his best (who was usually paying homage to Hawks and Lubitsch).

Tracy Fishko (an exceptional Lola Kirke) is a shy but driven Barnard College freshman. She is encouraged by her mom (Kathryn Erbe) to look up her soon-to-be-stepsister, Brooke (Gerwig), who also lives in New York. Brooke is thirty and seems to be the crazy-coolest most energetic person on the planet. Tracy certainly thinks so. Or so we think.

Tracy is an aspiring writer who wants desperately to be accepted into the her school's exclusive Mobius Literary Society and, after being rejected with her first attempt, writes a short story about her first day with Brooke as her possible way into the snobbish group. Suffice to say her impressions of Brooke are not the most flattering.

Meanwhile, Brooke's dream of opening a restaurant is threatened when her off-screen boyfriend pulls out. Where will Brooke get a fast $75,000?

The less offered about the rest of the plot the better since so many pleasures are derived from the second half of the film and the introduction and interplay of wonderfully etched characters converging in the suburbs, all nicely played by Matthew Shear, Jasmine Cephas-Jones, Cindy Cheung, Michael Chernus and, most hilariously, Heather Lind.

Gerwig tosses herself into Brooke with abandon and loads her with a host of idiosyncrasies and foibles. She's delusional but earnest. She's erratic but true to her own philosophies ("You're 18. You should all be touching each other all the time," she yells at one of the students whining about infidelity).

And she can be heartbreakingly honest: "I'm tired of running towards people, I want to be the place people come to."

"Mistress America" is a keen and clever look at a particular type and class of people trying to find their way in an increasingly demanding and social media infested world. And because the storytelling is so distinct and refreshing it takes on a universal quality.

The 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Blu-ray offers an excellent visual transfer, in 1.85:1, with clear audio quality.

The Special Features are a tremendous disappointment. There are 3 "featurettes" that total about 6 minutes and are really just a retelling of a lot of the plot with many filler film clips. Why aren't we at least given an audio commentary by Baumbach and Gerwig?

"Mistress America"
Blu-ray & Digital HD
$25.99
https://www.foxconnect.com/mistress-america.html