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Movies / On DVD / Hannah Takes the Stairs
Hannah Takes the Stairs

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Hannah Takes the Stairs (2007)

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Reviews Counted: 45

Fresh: 26

Rotten:19

Average Rating: 5.8/10

Consensus: Although not terribly focused, Hannah Takes the Stairs contains refreshing realism.

Runtime: 83 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:09-01-2009

Synopsis: Over the course of one hot post-graduate summer, Hannah (Greta Gerwig), falls precariously in and out of love. A breaker of hearts and chronically dissatisfied she finds herself drifting away from... Over the course of one hot post-graduate summer, Hannah (Greta Gerwig), falls precariously in and out of love. A breaker of hearts and chronically dissatisfied she finds herself drifting away from her newly unemployed boyfriend (Mark Duplass, THE PUFFY CHAIR) and drawn to two of her co-workers, Matt (Kent Osborne) and Paul (Andrew Bujalski, MUTUAL APPRECIATION). Conceived without a traditional script, this triumph of improvisional acting was born from intimate collaboration between director Joe Swanberg, and his cast, which is made up of some of todays most important up and coming independent filmmakers. Alternately heartbreaking and hilarious, and featuring stunning naturalistic performances, HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS is a delicate look at friendship, ambition, and the pursuit of happiness that heralds the return of a truly independent form of American moviemaking. -- © IFC Films [More]

Starring: Greta Gerwig, Kent Osborne, Andrew Bujalski

Starring: Greta Gerwig, Kent Osborne, Andrew Bujalski

Director: Joe Swanberg

Director: Joe Swanberg
Producer: Joe Swanberg
Composer: Kevin Bewersdorf
Studio: IFC Films

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Reviews for Hannah Takes the Stairs

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Smart and engaging, but too many meandering breeze-shooting sequences.

comment Comment
01/09/09
David Parkinson
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It’s never enough to establish any sensitivity or social pertinence beyond the trifling tiffs which are playing out on screen.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/09/09
David Jenkins
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Less dazed and confused than mumbling and mundane, this drama focuses on social awkwardness and twentysomething blues. Skipping aimlessly from scene to scene it offers little observations and rewards low expectations.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
01/09/09
Jamie Russell
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There’s only so much twentysomething navel-gazing one can listen to before wanting to slap some sense — and some fully formed sentences — into them all.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
01/09/09
Wendy Ide
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There is something teeth-grindingly cutesy about the whole thing, reaching epic levels of dippiness in the, ahem, nude trumpet-playing scenes. That makes it sound interesting, come to think of it, and perhaps it is.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
01/09/09
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

For every revelatory moment of sharp perception there’s an eternity of goofy smiles, stuttered dialogue and embarrassed glances.

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment Comment
01/09/09
Tim Evans
Sky Movies

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/09/09
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Hannah Takes the Stairs, the latest comedy of mannerisms in the “mumblecore” style, is maddening for 60 of its 83 minutes.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment Comment
01/09/09
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times

The film meanders along in conversational style, encouraging improvisational realism but also the thought that maybe these middle-class characters, not quite slackers, are less interesting than they, or the director, think they are.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
01/09/09
Derek Malcolm
This is London

Watchable independent drama from the mumblecore crowd, though it's not quite sharp enough, funny enough or insightful enough to really get off the ground and the characters are occasionally irritating.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
01/09/09
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Peter Keough
Boston Phoenix

Goes full blast on geek chatter.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
07/07/08
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Joe Swanberg's film wears out its welcome about halfway through its 83 minutes.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
11/30/07
G. Allen Johnson
San Francisco Chronicle

Swanberg can be playful behind the camera -- he has a taste for Godardian jump cuts -- and his sense of color is crisp. Gerwig, his millennial Jean Seberg, is no pixie; her captivating ordinariness helps hold the movie together.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
10/26/07
Marrit Ingman
Austin Chronicle

[Director] Swanberg nails the inane fun of youth.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
10/19/07
Bill Stamets
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No one involved seems to have any thoughts about why people are selfish and cruel to each other, but they're more than willing to complain about it.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment Comment
10/18/07
Matt Pais
Metromix.com

Chop off a star if you're not up for highly experimental cinema.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
10/18/07
Sid Smith
Chicago Tribune

When it works, it works like a charm.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
09/28/07
Jeff Shannon
Seattle Times

Perfectly encapsulates the slow-motion, frustrated feeling of early adulthood, when longing and inchoate desire easily outnumber actual transformative events and achievements.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
09/28/07
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Performances help raise Hannah Takes the Stairs above the realm of self-indulgent cinema to something worth seeing.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
09/27/07
Andy Spletzer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
 
 
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Latest News for Hannah Takes the Stairs

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August 21, 2007: RT Talks With Hannah Takes the Stairs' Joe Swanberg
Joe Swanberg is a busy man. Since 2005, he's completed three films (Kissing on the Mouth, LOL, and Hannah Takes the Stairs), is finishing up his fourth, has helmed two seasons... More...

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