Parents' Guide to

Frances Ha

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Smart, hilarious, mature look at an appealing scatterbrain.

Movie R 2013 86 minutes
Frances Ha Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 17+

Based on 5 parent reviews

age 16+

A bit self indulgent with low stakes rewards

Quirky...code word...self indulgent...surprising...code word...challenging narrative structure...intriguing navel gazing...this i agree with. Although I found this film self indulgent, with a challenging narrative structure and an egregious "New York" film I would not say this film is a waste of time. Everyone in the film seems to mean it. Although I winced many times during Frances Ha I did want to see how it turned out. My efforts were rewarded with low grade self actualization. However, I also do not think that film should always make you feel good and this film accomplishes that. It has a stamp of privilege that insists on a "happy ending." Enter at your own risk.
age 15+

i had high expectations

i thought i would really like this movie, i generally like noah baumbach’s writing. it’s a pretty boring movie in my opinion, but not in the uneventful yet eventful way ladybird does. the best part was adam driver. i was very bored throughout the movie. there were a few funny lines.

This title has:

Too much sex

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (5 ):
Kids say (7 ):

Packed with a new kind of appealing, cheerful wit, this is writer/director Noah Baumbach's most purely enjoyable movie. Baumbach is already an expert in the New York artist/intellectual lifestyle, but writing for the first time with his star (and real-life girlfriend) Gerwig, he comes up with his most satisfying, cohesive movie since The Squid and the Whale.

The style in FRANCES HA seems simple, but it's really quite intricate and complex. It's made up of dozens of spot-on lines of dialogue spoken in rhythmic little scenes. Sometimes the scenes last just seconds, and sometimes much longer. Nothing much except the passing of time connects these scenes; there's no real plot. The glorious black-and-white cinematography and choice of music keep things feeling hopeful and romantic, even when things are at their lowest. This is a truly wonderful movie, recalling Woody Allen at his best. (It has also been compared to the HBO series Girls, although it's much less edgy/graphic than that show.)

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