No, "Hannah Takes the Stairs" is NOT a perfect movie, or even a great movie, or even a movie that I feel the desire to ever watch again. But, it still is worthwhile, it still has plenty of entertainment value, humor, heart, sadness, happiness, and so on and so forth. The film takes the typical "mumblecore" approach to things; the cast is made up of quirky, often romantically involved twentysomethings, the budget is extremely low, the dialogue feels improvised, but still clever, the comedy is awkward, the drama is slight, but still impactful. This film in particular embodies all of these characteristics to its own advantage, and felt stunningly realistic. Although the production value is blatantly low, the acting is strong, particularly Greta Gerwig's performance, which is at least somewhat responsible for kickstarting her career, which has obviously developed quite a bit over the past ten years! Her character is flawed, but she is also always likable. She and the rest of those populating the screen feel like real, well developed human beings. These are characters who I feel like I've met before...I've passed by them in life, I may have even befriended them. And now, on an unbiased screen, I can witness their rises, their falls, their good times, and their bad ones.

This movie is of the so-called "genre" of films referred to as "mumblecore." Which are films made by twenty-somethings dealing with relationships. Thankfully, this appears to have been a very short-lived phenomena, not only because those filmmakers are now in their 30's but perhaps also because those films are inferior.There are so many problems with this movie, where to begin?1) It's obvious that this film was entirely improvised, and that is confirmed by the director in interviews he did. The problem with improvising a movie, is that MOST of the time it simply doesn't work. Not as a movie. Mike Leigh is one notable director (from England) who has done this numerous times with his movies; however, most of the time he has, it's not worked well. It did one time (with "Secrets & Lies"), but from what I read, they worked from a storyline. The director and actors here with "Hannah" clearly didn't. Consequently, there's no story arc. There's no arc to the characters, emotionally or otherwise. Nobody is any different at the end than they were at the beginning. At least if you watch paint dry, it's wet at the beginning and dry at the end -- and that's at least something.The coterie of talent assembled here, by and large, do not have the talent to pull this off successfully. That's not really a slam against them; most people in the world cannot pull this off successfully.2) The next biggest problem? Actors must be truly talented AT IMPROVISATION, to be able to do this engagingly beyond a couple minutes. These actors aren't. I don't mean to be unkind here, but being able to improvise is a particular skill in the acting arena, and not everyone has it. At least at the point this film was made, these actors -- all of them -- didn't have it. Duplass is a step above all the others, but even he doesn't pull it off as it could/should have been.How do you know when an actor isn't really good at improvisation? Their performance doesn't grab you or entertain you. It's dull or mediocre. Part of this (but not all) has to do with non-specificity by the actor. Meaning, they're acting "generally" and without drawing upon "real" experiences. Every single performance in "Hannah" is general -- and that's due to the story being improvised, the scenes being improvised, and the actors doing NO homework/study on who they were, their characters or their backgrounds. Maybe it's because they're lazy. Or maybe it's because they don't understand what makes any performance a good or powerful performance. Even Greta Gerwig's emotional breakdown at the end is SO drab & boring & one-note that it simply does not captivate the viewer. Plus, it goes on forever, which detracts even further from the scene. Less is more. (That the director clearly didn't get.)There's a reason certain actors are vaunted in our culture (or the world), like say, Meryl Streep. When you view any role she's ever done, her work is specific. So specific, it's captivating. Same with De Niro. Two actors, incidentally, who are notorious for studying and working on their roles before filming starts.The actors in "Hannah" are neither captivating, nor even interesting. Which is mostly their fault, but also that of the director. With all the films the director has now done since this movie, I would hope he's better. He's far from exhibiting the talent of a Scorsese, Tarantino, Nolan, Aronofsky, etc., but perhaps he will in the future (or perhaps has with his later projects).Lastly, I probably shouldn't be surprised given the nature of this film, but I was at the absolute lack of any make-up being used at all. Not even the use of "erace" or something similar to cover up some of the actors' acne. Two of the actors had issues with this, and it was quite distracting to see Gerwig in close-ups with a full-on pimple on her nose in a couple scenes. This isn't nor should be some "badge of honor" in the no-budget filmmaking world. Frankly, it's stupid. And so easily & cheaply remedied.

The mumblecore movement in cinema has had notable ups, a few downs, but has so far been pretty consistent in my book. One of the films elevating it to a level of supreme naturalistic cinema is Joe Swanberg's Hannah Takes the Stairs, a raw and potent look at the title character and how she floats through life from points A to B, living in post-college hell.Hannah is played by Greta Gerwig; a woman of considerable screen presence who is only elevated by a charming array of supporting characters. During the first act of the film, she is dating Mike (fellow mumblecore filmmaker Mark Duplass), a listless louse whose impulsive decisions make him the worst kind of boyfriend. When he quits his job because at the moment he isn't satisfied, and after much contemplation, Hannah dumps him and becomes interested in her two coworkers at an internship in Chicago.The men are straight-shooter Matt (Kent Osborne) and offbeat Paul (Andrew Bujalski, another mumblecore filmmaker), who lounge around in their office talking up a real storm of nonsense and watching their lives uncomfortably transcend into adulthood. Hannah also has a close friendship with Rocco (Ry Russo-Young), a woman who is known for helping her through tough times and even content to sit with her in the shower when necessary.Swanberg's trademarks that appear to be continuous throughout his films are intimacy, sex, human communications, and technology, all of which seem to be shown here in some form. There's a high level of intimacy, mostly because the actors seem fearless in scenes where they casually change clothes and show full frontal nudity to the camera, and the fact that there are many shower sequences in the film where two characters will discuss things with each other bathing right beside them. This is a daring, provocative tactic, used not as a test on the audience's part, but as a way of showing humanity in its rawest possible form. One of mumblecore's main requirements is naturalism and here it is employed fearlessly through performances, events, dialog, and personal complications among the characters.As I watched the picture, I couldn't help but feel that Swanberg and his band of six writers, most of whom are the cast as well, have an incredible eye for post-college boredom and the uncertainty of it all. This is a picture where events and plot lines act as a gimmick, but are more of a true life-affirming revelation that many, many people experience after college, where you are beginning to discover what you are going to be doing for possibly the rest of your life. If you are facing this sort of life-uncertainty, it's the kind of film that reassures you in the sense that others may have that same problem.NOTE: Hannah Takes the Stairs is most likely meant as a metaphor, and I believe it symbolizes that she favors to float through life as an unambitious bubble rather than make the snap decision to ultimately pick a career and go from there. Or, "taking the stairs," if you will.Starring: Greta Gerwig, Kent Osborne, Andrew Bujalski, Mark Duplass, and Ry Russo-Young. Directed by: Joe Swanberg.

What's the cheapest way to make a movie? Have two actors in a room talk to each other. That seems to be the case with "Hannah Takes the Stairs", an ultra-low budget film making the rounds in the art house theatres.The film is rather claustrophobic since most of the action takes place in just a few rooms, with what appears to be the occasional "stolen shot" outside. I say stolen because filming permits in a big city are rather expensive and the outdoor set ups have a "quick, get the shot and get out before the cops see us" feel to them (these shots only run a few seconds, which is the main indication).The characters talk about their lives and work, talk some more, have sex, talk some more, talk, talk, etc. The occasional nude scene keeps the audience awake, but with no real story to propel the film along I found it to be quite a snoozer.Not too surprisingly, all dialog was improvised—-and it shows. Scenes ramble on for quite some time and even though the film is less than an hour-and-a-half, it seems quite longer.Filmmakers, please write a script and actually have a plot. Without it, the most attractive actors and locations in the world aren't worth much if you can't keep your audience interested.