Frances Ha

Noah Baumbach's quirky talent stands out in the Hollywood film industry, where mediocrity too often reigns supreme. Known for writing and directing The Squid And The Whale, Margot At The Wedding and Greenberg, and for co-writing The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou and family films Madagascar 3 and The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Baumbach offers up insightful human relationships and unexpected humour of varying kinds. Baumbach co-wrote Frances Ha (filmed in black and white) with its charming star, Greta Gerwig, who impressed in Greenberg and Woody Allen's To Rome With Love. Her style is perfect for Frances, a socially awkward 27-year-old trying to make a life in New York.  Frances endears herself to us with her sincerity and awkwardness, and we really feel for her when her flatmate and supposed soulmate moves out of their apartment to take up one in a better neighbourhood. Frances moves in with Dan (Michael Esper) – who jokes that Frances is “undateable” – and serial dater, Lev (Adam Driver from HBO's Girls).

Things don't go so well for Frances, who's an apprentice with a dance company, and as she lurches from one unsatisfactory situation to another trying to find her path, the story captures that ennui which is a part of the torturous period between adolescence and true adulthood. Despite this, Frances Ha is still mostly upbeat and optimistic, thanks largely to Gerwig's irresistible presence.

In cinemas Thursday 15 August.