Review of Tiny Furniture (2010) by Jordan F — 09 Mar 2013

Meander Meander... this isn't a movie, it's a visual art essay.

Aura, a 20 something year old girl arrives home from college, probably more lost than when she started. She returns to her mother and younger sister. The mother is a fairly successful artist who is able to sustain an apartment/art studio in Tribeca NY. Her sister, whom she fights with constantly, is a close to graduating from high school with much better prospects than Aura. The film follows Aura in the weeks that follow as she struggles to readjust to life at home, find a job, rekindle lost friendships, and of course meet some guys.

If you were expecting a journey of struggle and reconciliation you will be sorely disappointed. Tiny furniture consist mainly of Aura making poor decisions and caring only about herself. She pretty much lacks any qualities that make her physically or emotionally attractive. She not concerned about the people around her or the people that care about her except for when she can lean on them for food or company. The film is brutally honest about what happens to people that finish college with art degrees but I have a hard time believing that someone with her caliber of talent and looks could get by in life without a single redeeming personality characteristic. Is her wit the thing that keeps the two friends she has in the film interested in her? Or are they just a lonely as her.

The film is well shot enough and the characters in the film are well drawn out. Tiny Furniture does have its own charm and appeal which is the films saving grace. However, just like Aura's wit would not be enough to keep her real friends around neither can the core of this film keep an audience interested..