Director: Lena Dunham
Biopics that follow a person from their youth to their death are usually met with the criticism that they are unfocused and not all that powerful. This is because it is hard to encapsulate that many years of a persons life into a two-hour movie where the audience demands simple coherence in the theme and subject. Lives are complex, unfocused, and they've got big pacing and tone issues. That's why movies that capture a certain moment in a life have found more success and are usually much better.
Lena Dunham's Tiny Furniture is an example of that now-popular tradition. It is about a female who just graduated college and is struggling in that moment of post-graduation and pre-adulthood. The film spans maybe a couple weeks at most, and it does a fine job of capturing that part of a life specific to this culture. This only works because the movie is very honest and authentic, partly due to the autobiographical nature of the film. But I will say that while the movie as a whole is very effective, there are definitely unnecessary scenes that do not accomplish anything. Dunham seems to be a bit of an episodic storyteller, and that does not always work to her advantage. But then there are scenes like the final one in the movie that really do a wonderful job of capturing a person a turning point in their life, and the troubles and thoughts that accompany that moment.
Grade: B+
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