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.
Comment
09/27/07
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Hannah Takes the Stairs (2007)
58
%
Tomatometer
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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
Looks like it should be on an Off Off Off Broadway play in the Village...
09/15/07
Gerwig proves herself to be a charming screen presence who manages to make her character somehow appealing despite her utter self-involvement.
09/14/07
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
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 CriticSwanberg is accurately charting the social rituals of the young and inarticulate.
08/25/07
Note to anyone who stumbles into this snoozefest: forget about taking the stairs—head straight for the nearest exit.
08/24/07
Gerwig actually gives her insufferable character some verve -- the actress has potential -- but the remainder of the movie is a slice of life that doesn't much show much life.
08/24/07
The fumbling banalities spouted by the characters belie the prior achievements of the actors making them up.
08/23/07
Top Critic[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
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
The loose, rambling conversations that substitute for action might be more interesting if any of the characters were capable of real introspection.
08/22/07
How can a movie with such a charming cast and believable dialogue (seemingly taken from the actors' real lives) go wrong? It can't.
08/22/07
Hannah Takes the Stairs is notable for what the movie represents: an evolutionary entry in the Do It Yourself (or D.I.Y.) independent film movement.
08/22/07
This do-it-your effort, shot in HD, would be nothing without hazel-eyed Greta Gerwig as Hannah, Meg Ryan-cute with a tousled Jean Seberg hairdo.
08/21/07
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
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 CriticAt what cost, naturalism?
08/15/07
The 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
The result is a mesh of creative sensibilities that never quite congeals.
06/25/07
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August 22, 2007:
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August 21, 2007:
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