TINY FURNITURE

This is unquestionable the most self-indulgent semi-autobiographical quirky comedy I have seen for years.  And I liked it. I think.

Aura has just graduated college in Ohio with a fairly useless degree and now that her boyfriend has dumped she goes back home to live with her successful artist mother and precocious younger sister in a fashionable Tribeca Loft.  She’s not sure what she wants out of life except for the fact that it must be ‘deep and meaningful’ but nevertheless she settles for a dead-end job as a day receptionist in an empty restaurant and pursues two deadbeat men who only want to use her.

And apart from all the intense rivalry between the 3 women at home that result in angst laden dialogues nothing else much happens. 

The fact that Aura is played by the filmmaker/writer and her screen mother and sister are played by themselves,  and that the Loft is their actual family home adds a rather disturbing but comic twist to it all.  It almost seems like a scripted documentary than a feature film especially with its somewhat limited narrative.

There were times when the characters intensely annoyed me that I just wanted to slap them, but also at the same time for some unknown reason I felt that my curiosity factor about these oddball people needed to be satisfied.  And there were a couple of them like Charlotte her train-wreck best friend, and Jed ‘a big star on youtube’  that were hilarious funny thanks to some very witty dialogue.

Lena Dunham who, to all intents and purposes is ‘Tiny Furniture’, is being hailed as the ‘next big thing’, and she’s managed to pick  up a couple of Awards for this her 2nd Feature  that she made for a mere $25000.  I’m think that is a little too much hype, but I will confess that I am quite keen to see what she follows this with.

I’m happy to recommend it, BUT add a note of caution that this is strictly for those (like me) who’s tastes stretch from offbeat to downright outré.

P.S. The title refers to the miniature furniture, juxtaposed with people, that the mother takes photographs off in the movie, and also in real life