Support the Girls (Andrew Bujalski)

[Watashi]

[Peng]

Not that the film lacks for some obvious but effective comedy/drama (as its busy milieu all but invites elements of both), but the most wonderful thing about this is how many moments of those two are realistically understated to such affecting, hilarious degree, an approach exemplified best by Reginal Hall's powerhouse strength under pressure and Haley Lu Richardson's infectiously irrepressible sunniness. Even thing as extremely "minor" as the one-second reveal of who's throwing up in the bathroom packs some wallop, because of the film's hard-won empathy that feels so casually thought-through. It's tough but never downbeat. 8/10

[Grouchy]

It's a decent, completely entertaining comedy/drama that could have used a re-write or two to make the themes less obvious.

EDIT: I did love the characters, too. They were uniformly well drawn.