Hannah Takes the Stairs, the latest comedy of mannerisms in the “mumblecore” style, is maddening for 60 of its 83 minutes.
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01/09/09
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Hannah Takes the Stairs (2007)
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Reviews Counted:45
Fresh:26
Rotten:19
Average Rating:5.8/10
Consensus: Although not terribly focused, Hannah Takes the Stairs contains refreshing realism.
Theatrical Release:Aug 22, 2007 Limited
Synopsis: Over the course of one hot post-graduate summer, Hannah (Greta Gerwig), falls precariously in and out of love. A breaker of hearts and chronically dissatisfied she finds herself drifting away from... [More]
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Reviews for Hannah Takes the Stairs
There is something teeth-grindingly cutesy about the whole thing, reaching epic levels of dippiness in the, ahem, nude trumpet-playing scenes. That makes it sound interesting, come to think of it, and perhaps it is.
01/09/09
Hannah is charmingly self-absorbed without the extenuating circumstance of self-knowledge. Above all, she's young. The movie forgives her for that and, with occasional misgivings, so do we.
09/07/07
Top CriticPerfectly encapsulates the slow-motion, frustrated feeling of early adulthood, when longing and inchoate desire easily outnumber actual transformative events and achievements.
09/28/07
Top CriticThe unexpected appeal of this seeming non-story is cumulative; what begins as a maddening portrait of a microcosm of liberal, well-educated white kids (with the occasional ethnic friend) steadily grows on you.
07/29/07
Gerwig's talents might be better displayed in some form of scripted or structured film rather than this erratic warts 'n' all waste of time.
08/21/07
For every revelatory moment of sharp perception there’s an eternity of goofy smiles, stuttered dialogue and embarrassed glances.
01/09/09
[Actor] Gerwig [turns] her terminally anxious character into a poster girl for an entire subset of young women on the verge. Every generation gets the Darling they deserve. We now have ours.
08/23/07
Gerwig is a modest (like everything in Mumblecore) revelation in the role, with a lithe, teasing sexuality and a vibrant personality that seems to be darting off in as many directions as her tousled blonde hair.
09/27/07
Hannah (Greta Gerwig), the peroxided heroine, leaps from one hookup to the next, but is she searching for passion or just treading water? In the new generational film movement that's been dubbed 'Mumblecore,' it's often hard to tell the difference.
09/05/07
Top CriticNote to anyone who stumbles into this snoozefest: forget about taking the stairs—head straight for the nearest exit.
08/24/07
The result is a mesh of creative sensibilities that never quite congeals.
06/25/07
It’s impossible to predict how the Mumblecorps will mature but, given their immersion in the moment, I suspect that the films they’ve made will age very well.
08/21/07
Top CriticThere’s only so much twentysomething navel-gazing one can listen to before wanting to slap some sense — and some fully formed sentences — into them all.
01/09/09
Swanberg can be playful behind the camera -- he has a taste for Godardian jump cuts -- and his sense of color is crisp. Gerwig, his millennial Jean Seberg, is no pixie; her captivating ordinariness helps hold the movie together.
10/26/07
It’s never enough to establish any sensitivity or social pertinence beyond the trifling tiffs which are playing out on screen.
01/09/09
Joe Swanberg's film wears out its welcome about halfway through its 83 minutes.
11/30/07
Top CriticA low-key and enjoyable film with a cast consisting mostly of other indie filmmakers and writers.
04/04/07
Joe Swanberg’s charming comedy Hannah Takes the Stairs marks the Chicago-based filmmaker’s third feature, but his first to land theatrical distribution.
08/22/07
Each film [director Swanberg] does is a little more of an evolution in style and form and Hannah Takes the Stairs is like watching a natural progression of talent.
03/24/07
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August 21, 2007:
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