"Lola Versus" Review

When Lola's fiancee unexpectedly dumps her, her life is turned upside down. Despite the support from her friends and family, Lola's broken heart leads her tumbling towards rock bottom.

Lola Versus
Starring Greta Gerwig, Joel Kinnaman, Zoe Lister Jones
Directed by Daryl Wein
My Opinion: a hidden gem

Lola Versus is an impassioned, witty telling of a female at a critical juncture. The dialogue is quick, sharp and entirely hilarious. The characters are lovable and quirky, but complex. In short, Lola Versus is everything that I was expecting out of Girls. I'm not sure why the film received such negative reviews - I was in love with every moment. Greta Gerwig carries her character with broad, sensitive shoulders. You watch her collapse into a flailing and at times despicable heap. Her struggles are hysterical, pathetic and familiar all at once. The film exposes the downfall of romantic preoccupation and highlights the importance of discovering oneself - a message which speaks to audiences across generations.

The ending might edge a bit to close to corny sentimentality, but it still works. My only true qualm with the film was it's estranged representations of race within the film. Like many indie flicks including Wein's hit 500 Days of Summer, the characters are all very white. There is one black bartender thrown into the mix. While he has a couple moments, he's generally absent until the very end where he awkwardly asserts himself as Lola's "black friend" during a terrible but touching birthday rap. This was either a disclaimer for using rap music or a neglectful, halfhearted attempt at self awareness over a lack of race relations. My inkling is that he is just another token character.

None the less, Lola Versus is an indie treat for my sore eyes. Perhaps it's so short that it doesn't have time to unravel, unlike the three hour snooze fests hogging theaters today. Whatever the reason, I highly recommend this one.