Mistress America is almost 10 years old now. It is streaming on Max. It was co-written by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach. I was curious to see another of their earlier collaborations, pre Barbie.
Mistress America tells Tracy’s (Lola Kirke) story after she meets the older somewhat manic Brooke (Greta Gerewig). Tracy’s mom and Brooke’s dad were planning to get married. Tracy was a freshman in college. Brooke worked in New York City. Tracy’s mom suggested she should call Brooke and meet her since they were going to be related.
Tracy was a fairly grounded young woman. She wanted to be a writer. Her first friend in college was Tony (Matthew Shear), who also wanted to write. But when she met Brooke, everything changed.
Brooke was 30. She was scattered and full of energy. She had ambitions to open a restaurant where you could also get a hair cut and hold community meetings. She was a whirlwind of ideas. Tracy was 1) enamored and 2) not above using Brooke as fodder for a short story to get into the university literary society. Brooke lived off a series of part time jobs, but she thought she had some money backers lined up to support the restaurant idea.
The money guys all backed out. So Brooke and Tracy went to see Mamie-Claire (Heather Lind) and Dylan (Michael Chernus). Mamie-Claire made a ton of money marketing tee-shirts using an idea stolen from Brooke. She owed Brooke, right? Dylan was her former boyfriend who still had a thing for Brooke and couldn’t wait to give her money. They had a house full of colorful characters who all talked at once. Even Tony and his very jealous girlfriend Nicolette (Jasmine Cephas Jones) were there. The dialog was fast and funny. Tracy was secretly writing a lot of it down for her short story, which she called “Mistress America.”
The heart of the story was the connection and near magic between Tracy and Brooke. Even if they weren’t going to be step-sisters there would have been something there. Tracy looked up to Brooke for her fierceness and her independence. She helped Tracy find some of that in herself.
This wasn’t a serious movie other than the sisterhood thematic elements. It was often juvenile and silly. But it made me smile and gave me a look at a moment in time in the development of the Gerwig/Baumbach creative team.
If you watch it, or have already watched it, please share your thoughts in the comments.
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@Virginia I love that film. The following line Greta Gerwig’s character says in the bar gets me every time:
“My idea is a television show. Which I’ve heard is the new novel.”
Have you watched Francis Ha? It’s a masterpiece.
Right, that’s a great line. I have seen Francis Ha but it was a long time ago. The main thing I remember was how excited people were about Greta Gerwig’s talent.
@Virginia It’s a bit Seinfeld like. A story about nothing much. Just someone moving through life.