Hannah Takes the Stairs

There is a useful directness to Hannah Takes the Stairs, a comedy shaped by Joe Swanberg with a firm understanding of its audience. In Hannah Takes the Stairs, Greta Gerwig provides the anchor while Kent Osborne introduces a contrasting energy. Without revealing later complications, Hannah Takes the Stairs opens from this situation: Hannah is a recent college graduate interning at a Chicago production company. The resulting its 1h 23m running time feels most convincing whenever Hannah Takes the Stairs trusts behaviour more than explanation.

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Beneath its plot, Hannah Takes the Stairs is most interested in embarrassment, status and the gap between confidence and reality. That concern becomes visible through Greta Gerwig, whose choices allow Hannah Takes the Stairs to explore an idea without stopping for a speech. Hannah gives the themes of Hannah Takes the Stairs a concrete dramatic form rather than leaving them abstract. The emotional value of Hannah Takes the Stairs grows whenever Joe Swanberg trusts the audience to connect behaviour with the larger question.

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Greta Gerwig gives Hannah Takes the Stairs its most dependable performance, finding a clear emotional intention beneath the plot. Opposite Greta Gerwig, Kent Osborne brings Hannah Takes the Stairs a contrasting pace that prevents the central relationship from feeling flat. Andrew Bujalski widens the ensemble of Hannah Takes the Stairs through reactions that suggest a life beyond the immediate scene. Joe Swanberg serves the cast of Hannah Takes the Stairs best when a look or pause is allowed to finish before the story moves on.

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Hannah Takes the Stairs benefits from Joe Swanberg being alive in individual scenes and uncertain between them about what each sequence needs to accomplish. Instead of making every beat equally loud, Joe Swanberg lets Hannah Takes the Stairs create contrast between pressure and release. The cast and craft keep the experience watchable throughout Hannah Takes the Stairs, with the strongest decisions feeling connected to character rather than display. It is still fair to say that Hannah Takes the Stairs suffers because too many scenes explain effects the actors have already suggested, but the problem remains contained.

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The craft of Hannah Takes the Stairs is defined by comic timing built around character, supported by comic timing built around character rather than overwhelmed by decoration. Film Science gives Hannah Takes the Stairs a production framework in which well judged reactions can remain connected to story. Made from a United States production context, Hannah Takes the Stairs uses setting and design to clarify mood before dialogue has to explain it. The technical finish of Hannah Takes the Stairs works because image, sound and editing appear to be serving the same immediate purpose.

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At story level, Hannah Takes the Stairs turns Hannah and Chicago into the source of its main tension. The role played by Greta Gerwig becomes the viewer's route through Hannah Takes the Stairs, especially when Matt begins to alter the situation. Joe Swanberg gives Hannah Takes the Stairs momentum by allowing choices to create consequences instead of treating each scene as isolated information. Even when Paul pushes the plot toward familiar ground, Hannah Takes the Stairs remains attentive to what that pressure means for its characters.

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For comedy fans who respond to personality and timing, Hannah Takes the Stairs is ultimately an uneven film with enough personality to remain interesting. Its most persuasive combination in Hannah Takes the Stairs brings Greta Gerwig together with well judged reactions under the direction of Joe Swanberg. The fact that too many scenes explain effects the actors have already suggested prevents Hannah Takes the Stairs from being entirely seamless. Even with that reservation, Hannah Takes the Stairs has a clear point of view and enough genuine feeling to justify the journey.