Obvious Child
Description
Donna Stern is having a rough week. First, her cheating boyfriend dumps her, then she learns her bookstore job is doomed. Leaving a series of increasingly wine-soaked (and hilarious) voicemails for her ex is only briefly satisfying, and indulging in “some light stalking” just makes her feel worse, but her friends and family are supportive in their own eccentric ways and she has her stand-up comedy for therapy. Donna’s onstage routine is normally uncensored and bawdy, but one night she tanks with a drunk, self-pitying act. Enter Max, earnest, clean-cut and not at all Donna’s type. After a silly, boozy evening they end up at his apartment, dancing to Paul Simon songs—and you know where that can lead. Immediately ambivalent, Donna engages in a tortured tug-of-war with Max’s and a her own emotions. Jenny Slate is entirely likeable as Donna, funny, vulnerable and charming even when spewing fart jokes and peeing in public. And Jake Lacy’s Max turns out to be more than his button-down shirt. –Laura Henneman
A participant in the San Francisco Film Society’s Off the Page workshop in 2012, Gillian Robespierre first made Obvious Child as a short film in 2009. She took the feature-length version of the script to the 2011 IFP Emerging Narrative and Emerging Visions Labs, earned grants from Rooftop Films and the Tribeca Film Institute and ran a very successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the film. Born and raised in New York, Robespierre graduated from the School of Visual Arts’ Film & Video Program and made several short films before Obvious Child, her feature debut.
Film Details
Language English
Year 2013
Runtime 85
Country USA
Director Gillian Robespierre
Producer Elisabeth Holm
Writer Gillian Robespierre
Editor Casey Brooks
Cinematographer Chris Teague
Music Chris Bordeaux
Cast Jenny Slate, Jake Lacy, Gaby Hoffman, David Cross
Print Source A24/ lauren@a24films.com