Andrew Bujalski's third effort will test the patience of some filmgoers, but it represents a warm, funny, and honest introduction to the mumblecore movement.
Andrew Bujalski's third effort will test the patience of some filmgoers, but it represents a warm, funny, and honest introduction to the mumblecore movement.
In this typically low-key comedy drama from independent writer/director Andrew Bujalski, Jeannie (Tilly Hatcher) and Lauren (Maggie Hatcher) are a pair of twin sisters living in Austin, TX, who are close without having much in common. Jeannie, who is confined to a wheelchair, runs a well-established vintage clothing store called Storyville with her longtime friend Amanda (Anne Dodge), while Lauren drifts from job to job and is pondering an offer to teach English in Kenya. Jeannie and Amanda have
had a falling out and Jeannie is worried about her stake in the business, especially since the original partnership agreements were drawn up by Amanda's father. When Amanda suggests she may take legal action to take full control of Storyville, Jeannie decides she needs legal advice and turns to Merrill (Alex Karpovsky), a former boyfriend who has almost completed his law degree. Merrill is feeling frazzled as he tries to pass the bar exam and he welcomes the distraction, but it isn't long before he forgets one of the first rules of legal ethics and begins sleeping with Jeannie. Lauren, meanwhile, wants to be of assistance to her sister, but she gets roped into helping her mother with her myriad problems while trying to make sense of her own future. Beeswax was an official selection at the 2009 South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
It is typical of Bujalski's finely wrought observation of their lives that the film ends, as it began, with a moment in which Lauren is poised, indecisively, on the cusp of a decision.
Ultimately a dull story about dull thirtysomethings whose dull issues are conveyed in a prying, cinema verité style, implying drama and meaning in the mundane details of their dull lives.
It's rambling, doesn't really go anywhere, and is not necessarily about anything beyond its own sense of place. But it's mildly diverting nonetheless. It's about mood, not plot.
Beeswax reminds viewers that in talkative films much can go unspoken. For writer-director Andrew Bujalski these betwixt-between, hem-haw spaces are the places to be.
There are viewers and critics who simply can't abide mumblecore. But give this movie a chance: Bujalski has a serious talent for finding resonance in the mundane.
Don't expect intensity of any kind in Bujalski's films; the emotions range from mild annoyance to bemusement, but within that minimal palette he's a master.
Beeswax can be summed up by one lingering shot, where the camera focuses, for no particular reason, on Maggie Hatcher's armpit hair. Like armpit hair, Beeswax is sweaty, unpleasant, in need of cutting, and without a point.
A collection of small moments and awkward interactions, this low-key drama has a home-made feel to it. But it's so rambling and aimless, with characters that aren't particularly likeable, that it's difficult to find much resonance in it.
More than ever, Bujalski comes across like the natural heir to someone like Eric Rohmer, an artist who creates intricate, perceptive and artful cinema that rejects unnecessary style and contrivance.
Everyone is a full-grown adult dealing with all which that entails, and both the characters and the film's easygoing rhythms are, remarkably, true to life and love lost, or found.
Wow this was hard viewing. Rarely have I sat through such a dull film, and this had potential, that's the worst bit. I am not someone who enjoys blockbusters and explosions, so no one can claim I don't get "slice of life" films, generally speaking, I do. But this is so tediously dull and nothing happens. There is no
point at all to this story. The cast do well with what they have, and I liked the setting at the vintage clothing shop. If they had have given this an actual plot, I think I would have really liked this film. As it is, I feel like I just sat through a really boring day at work listening to other people talk crap. I would really like my 2 hours back.
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