morrison-dylan-fan With having heard about Greta Gerwig for the first time a few years ago,in connection to being the "queen" of the Mumblecore genre,I was pleasantly surprised to recently receive 2 Gerwig Mumblecore titles from a friend,which led to me getting ready to see the "Mumblecore queen" in action for the first time.The plot:As her 30th birthday appears on the horizon,29 year old Lola begins to feel that her dream life is about to become a reality,when Lola's first (and only) boyfriend Luke proposes to her.Getting prepared for her big day,Lola is stopped from making her dream a reality,due to Luke telling Lola that he needs some "space" between him and herself just 3 weeks before the wedding.Surrounding her self with loyal friends Henry and Alice,Lola begins attempting to move the painful feeling which Luke has left behind,by preparing to experience life as a single for the first time ever.View on the film:For the screenplay of the film,co-writer's Daryl Wein (who also directs) and Zoe Lister Jones (who also gives a strong performance as Lola's walking on eggshells friend Alice) takes a refreshing approach in avoiding the traditional boy-meets-girl route,by making Lola's "dream ending" one that crumbles apart within the first 10 minutes of the film,which leads to Jones and Wein instead showing Lola trying to build a good,but realistic single life for herself.Making sure that Lola's transition from being engaged to newly single is one that never becomes too downbeat,Wein and Jones fill the movie with whip-smart dialogue,which along with giving the film a real snappy pace also allows for the close knitted relationship between Lola and her friends to be fully shown.Along with the sharp dialogue,Wein and Jones also show that they are not afraid to make their lead character occasionally look a bit stupid,with some of the best scenes in the film showing Lola go on some less than successful dates for the first time.Backed by Daryl Wein's smooth directing,which keeps Lola's feet firmly on the ground,whilst also showing a stylish eye for cut-aways that reveal the nightmare that Lola sees her future as being,the beautiful Greta Gerwig gives an excellent performance which carefully makes sure the films comedic moments always stay rooted to Lola's struggle of living a single life,and also shows Lola having some serious doubts on what direction her life should take.Joining Gerwig,Bill Pullman gives a fun,mini performance as Lola's dad Lenny,which is partly helped by Gerwig and Pullman having a slight resemblance to each other,whilst Hamish Linklater gives a terrific performance as Lola's loyal friend Henry,with Linklater showing what can happen when the wires of friendship unexpectedly cross.

valis1949 LOLA VERSUS (dir. Daryl Wein) The film sets out to expand the parameters of Romantic Comedy by taking a typical gambit (almost a cliché) and gently bruising it a bit. Lola's dreamy life in NYC comes to an abrupt halt when she's dumped by her fiancé. Not in a relationship, and creeping up on thirty...Oh, the horror! Now things get complicated, and she might fall for her best male friend, or even get some emotional help from her hippie parents. The jokes are barbed, and Lola makes some ill suited choices not usually covered in the genre, yet she's got oodles more pluck than the standard sugarcoated heroine. Greta Gerwig is enchanting in the lead role, and her delightful comedic mannerisms and facial expressions are perfect for this wry comedy. This film is a splendid choice if you're looking for something more than the run-of-the-mill lighthearted (empty-headed?) Rom Com.

Chris_Pandolfi If traditional Hollywood romantic comedies are like pop rock, then "Lola Versus" is the equivalent to alternative. Although it has the same basic sensibilities and is generally just as implausible as more mainstream fare, it explores its characters and themes in a quirkier, less soppy way. In terms of plot, we can make out the basic trajectory, but there are times when it deviates from the path, specifically when it comes to the satisfying but not necessarily happy ending. It's a refreshing approach and a welcome change of pace. All the same, I must admit that I personally prefer more Hollywood-style romcoms, simply because they usually work harder at getting the audience to feel good, if only for about an hour and a half. Yes, there are those of us that are perfectly content with pop.Taking place in New York City, the film depicts one year in the life of a literature grad student named Lola (Greta Gerwig), beginning on her twenty-ninth birthday with a voice-over narration and a dream sequence in which personal effects such as shoes, handbags, and vibrators wash up by the hundreds on a beach. When she awakens, her longtime boyfriend, an artist named Luke (Joel Kinnaman), proposes to her. Then, only weeks before the wedding, he calls off the engagement. A heartbroken and hopelessly confused Lola moves into her old apartment, which, in a cruel twist of fate, was being rented by a young woman who has just gotten engaged. Lola turns to her best friend, a fringe theater actress named Alice (Zoe Lister-Jones, also the co-writer and one of the executive producers), for advice and support. She also has to content with her well-meaning but misguided parents (Debra Winger and Bull Pullman). Her father still adheres to free love ideals that went out of fashion forty years ago.Lola will eventually cross a line with her other friend, a singer named Henry (Hamish Linklater), a complication made worse by the fact that he's also Luke's friend. Twice, she tries dating a man named Nick (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), who is essentially this film's answer to traditional comedy relief. Consider this line of dialogue, delivered as he and Lola sip wine in his obviously pretentious apartment: "I never set out to be a prison architect. It just happened that way." As Lola desperately tries to make sense of herself now that she's single, she's repeatedly approached by Luke, who it seems does want to work things out with her. She will, of course, surrender in a weak moment and have sex with him, but that doesn't necessarily mean she's ready to take him back. Meanwhile, Alice, in her own loveably neurotic way, laments about being the only single woman in New York. At the same time, she doesn't want to advance on someone like Henry, given the fact that he and Lola know each other too well.Reading this plot description, you may feel as if you know exactly where the film will go. To an extent, you'd be right; aspects of "Lola Versus" are cut from the same cloth as a traditional romantic comedy. But don't be lulled into a false sense of security. The filmmakers avoided many of the conventions audiences are conditioned to expect, which is good because that means certain elements may actually surprise you. I think the key difference between this film and your run-of-the-mill romcom is that the latter is typically founded on little more than the fantasy of falling in love with the ideal partner; "Lola Versus" is really more of a character study and isn't as interested in the mechanics of a contrived romance. It's about the title character's journey towards self-discovery.One thing the filmmakers do right is tone down on personality absolutes. Unlike a Hollywood romcom, where the characters are developed according to broad generalizations, "Lola Versus" paints in shades of gray and uses smaller strokes. When I described Luke earlier, I'll bet you came to the conclusion that he was a jerk and that Lola would be better off without him. But it isn't that clear cut. There are no perfect characters in this movie. They all make mistakes. On the same token, they all have redeeming qualities. Luke may be annoying unclear about what he wants, and he certainly could have handled the situation with Lola in a much better way, but he really isn't a bad guy.I also appreciated the way in which the filmmakers depict New York. Rather than bombard us with photogenic shots of landmarks and skylines we're all very familiar with, they instead opt for smaller, more intimate locations in less well known sections of the city. This isn't a travelogue; the setting is secondary to the human story at its core. That this particular story happens to revolve around the amusing ups and downs of relationship doesn't make that much of a difference. "Lola Versus" is a charming film, one that may not provide general audiences with everything they've come to expect from a romantic comedy but still gets the job done nicely. Despite my personal preferences, even I know that it's good to try out an alternative approach every once in a while.-- Chris Pandolfi (www.atatheaternearyou.net)

gregeichelberger I suppose you need to be in a New York state of mind to enjoy "Lola Versus," but, Phillistine that I am, I just could not pull it off. I also know exactly what many of the smug, self-styled intellectual reviewers are going to write and say about this film. That it's smart, quirky, snappy, gritty, real and funny.Don't believe any of that.Once again, I know I will be in the minority opinion, but to this scribbler, it's nothing but a series of unrelated sentences that seeks to substitute for a coherent script; a junk drawer full of supposedly wry and witty bon mots desperately in search of a plot, written by someone with Attention Deficit Disorder. It seemingly wants to be as clever as "Juno," but does not want to work for it. Of course, it's handicapped because it has neither the intelligence, charm or talent featured in that film. In fact, it's not even a low-rent "500 Days Of Summer," the next picture on the "Will-I-ever-find-true-love-again" bandwagon."Lola Versus" is the follow-up to "Breaking Upwards" from writer/director team Daryl Wein and Zoe Lister-Jones, where the filmmakers attempted to use conventional romcom figures of speech to jump-start conversations that ultimately went nowhere. This goes twice as much for Wein's latest release.He isn't given much to work with, however. In "Lola," we get actors such as Greta Gerwig ("No Strings Attached"), Joel Kinnaman ("Safe House," "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"), Hamish Linklater ("Battleship"), Lister-Jones ("The Other Guys," "Salt") and Ebon Moss-Bachrach ("The Lake House," Higher Ground").Oh sure, we also see veteran Bill Pullman (whose last significant work was "Rio Sex Comedy") and Academy Award-nominated (for "An Officer and a Gentleman" and "Terms of Endearment") actress, Debra Winger; both are wasted, though, as a terminally high father and nagging mother, respectively.Here, Gerwig plays the eponymous character, who lives in New York and has one of those New York lives that exist only in movies like this. She lives in a perfect, rent-controlled apartment and is engaged to uber stud, Luke (Kinnaman). It seems to be a match made in Heaven, until a chronic case of cold feet causes him to dump her three weeks before the wedding.This can happen. I personally know of a situation similar, but no one is going to put THAT story up on the big screen. Lola takes it hard - very hard. She sleeps for what seems like months (only waking to eat a few potato chips and wallow in self-pity, much like the audience). Later, her friend, Alice (Jones), tries to console her by taking her to singles bars and getting her plastered at private parties.Lola pays her back by sleeping with Alice's on-again, off-again boyfriend, Henry (Linklater), who plays in the world's lamest band. Their relationship begins with an innocent sleep-but-don't-touch thing, but soon devolves into a full-blown affair.And, since Gerwig's character is a 29-year old New Yorker, she is shallow, annoying, promiscuous and completely self-absorbed. She's also a pothead and an alcoholic, to boot. Plus, not since Kristin Wiig's embarrassing "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" breakdown in "Bridesmaids," do we get a female that goes Hollywood mental at just the wrong time (just because she sees Nick talking to another girl).All of this while trying to get her life back on track. However, she falls back into her old habits by cheating on her rebound guy with Nick Oyster (Moss-Bachrach), a well-endowed fish salesman (get it?). Lola has sex with him, then complains because he's bothers her, which is certainly the pot calling the kettle black here.Finally, Nick, seeing the error of his ways comes back into her life, and, of course, Lola forgives him and - gasp - has sex with him (how novel, a male character she sleeps with). In fact, she has baseless, passionless, meaningless intercourse so many times, it frankly becomes as irritating as Gerwig's empty, one-note performance.It's also very hard to feel sorry for someone who constantly blubbers because she cannot find love, yet has a perfect face and body, a full support group and seemingly beds every man in the Bronx. We all have our troubles and few tears are going to be wasted on her situation.Lister-Jones, who is equally bothersome most of the time, although a bit less self-centered as Lola, is probably the best thing about this movie (and that is certainly not saying very much). It's sad though, that while she steals every scene she's in, it's all petty larceny in the end. None of the other characters even approach empathy, chemistry or believability.All the while, the writing tandem attempts a viewer connection by name-dropping such entities as Facebook, match.com and Yelp!, but they spoil everything by practically waving their hands about frantically and shouting, "Hey! We're smarter than all of you! This movie is what life, love and finally growing up is really all about!" As previously written, don't believe that for a minute.