Review of Tiny Furniture (2010) by Jmh — 06 May 2012

Lena Dunham's debut feature Tiny Furniture is an emotionally well-tuned, rich, and often funny look at post-college aimlessness, as Aura (played by Dunham) returns home after graduating from college. (The home is her parents' home in Tribeca, and her mother and sister are played by her real-life mother and sister.

) Given comparisons to Woody Allen in many reviews (and elsewhere), I expected a funnier film. Tiny Furniture does deliver a number of comedic moments, but I found myself truly taken by the film's realism and pacing.

The characters are sympathetic, believable, and almost instantaneously well-developed -- they ring true from the moment they enter they film. Dunham's slice of New York life is very much that -- a slice.

And a seemingly personal one. People of independent means floating in a finely clustered Downtown world. It may not play in Peoria, but it plays well in New York, for New Yorkers of this world and generally, as most New Yorkers will know this world to some extent.

The film's pacing adds to an already consistent tone that wistful and quirky. Dunham's voice and perspective are powerful, and apparent throughout the film. Dunham's voice is, foremost, fresh and inventive.

Debut's of this quality are few and far between, especially from a filmmaker so young. There's immense pleasure and promise in this picture. Try it on for size.