Appropriate Behavior

Appropriate Behavior_720p(480P)

I will admit that its weakest part is character development, fleshing out supporting charcters and its pointless ending, however it is entertaining and makes you laugh. I love that it did not take itself seriously and, as a non-white person, you understand where she is coming from in terms of her family, she is not an annoying Hanna from Girls or an annoying Frances Ha. Culture plays a role and, more importantly, there are other characters pointing her flaws, as well. I love that she was bi and in a relationship with a woman and not a cheater. Impressive enough on itself in terms of representation. I just had fun. I only wish the ending were not so meh.

A new film-making star has been born! This is not an indie movie, this is not an LGBT movie, this is simply great! Ms. Akhavan is so talented on so many levels. This stuff is much better than "Girls" and other similar indie pretentious accounts of white middle-class daughters whose biggest problem in life is that their boyfriends are more handsome than themselves, which makes these girls bloody insecure, and than they comfort themselves with some trashy losers from the street. I love this movie, because it is totally post-indie and post-everything production. Shirin is seemingly a girl who has everything, looks and brain, and even pleasant and pretty nice parents, but who still has real, depressing problem. Her problem is that, due to her age, education and ways of socialisation she is caught up between rapid identity liberalisation, feminism, sexual freedom, on the one hand, and still remains of firm traditional identity constrains, that come from her family background, on the other hand. This is so much a story of current second generation immigrants everywhere in USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Scandinavia, etc.Her family is so typical for North American immigrants - they seem to be worldly people, but actually they still know only their original ways and hold on them, as the only source of security. Being familiar to that community, I am so proud someone has finally started telling this story, in relation to NY and these, youngest generation. The second layer of the story, the tension between lesbianism, and bisexuality, is also done very interestingly. It also deconstructs in very subtle way the fashionable urban myth of "bisexuality", as something that is cool for every woman, and belief that, after being in love with a woman, bisexual girls can always successfully replace her with a hot guy, or threesome. Shirin's character so obviously demonstrates that "bisexuality" does not help when a woman loses another woman whom she loves. I actually liked sex scenes a lot in this movie, they were so effective and graphic. I simply can't believe the same person who acted in them, also directed them. I also like the interesting anatomy of her relationship with Maxin, who is seemingly a dorky, unattractive and insecure girl, but actually much stronger than she looks like, and, a real, genuine love of Shirin. Striking contrast between their looks and styles is a great accent in the movie: it underlines the strength of love. And finally, the humor in the movie does not undermine the seriousness of the issue. Conflict with a loving family, which denies the crucial issues of their children, is one of the most painful features of current adulthood, no matter how emancipated and self-focused those people in question are. There are scenes that could have been improved, and we could have seen more of a Shirin's non-Persian friends, who definitely must have influenced her in life. Also, some situations with family could have been more elaborated. Still, this is incomparably better than "Girls", so I hope that this talented young woman will get at least as much chance in this business as a person who wrote "Girls" has got, and I am sure, the screen result will be much more interesting. Kudos to Ms. Akhavan!

There's a certain type of movie that Sundance always selects: quirky comedies about lovable oddballs who are in the middle of a crisis and want everyone to know about it. This is Appropriate Behavior. I will say in its favour that there isn't enough bisexual representation in cinema nor is there enough about American- Iranians. This has both, but at the same time writer director Desiree Akhavan doesn't want to examine either aspect in depth. This is both refreshing because these aspects of lead character Shirin's identity are assured aspects of who she is and aren't part of her crisis, and frustrating because aside from these elements there is nothing that makes this movie stand out in any way from the quirky indie comedies that come out every year from Sundance. Behavior is about Shirin (played by Akhavan). Recently having broken up with the live-in girlfriend her conservative Persian parents thought was her "roommate" the film plays in pieces as we watch Akhavan try to put her life back together without the woman who defined so much of it. As a bonus we are also treated to flashbacks of the rise and fall of her relationship with her ex. It is... not very exciting. The film is written with so many pithy one liners you can tell it was written to death. This makes for great screencaps and dialogue you can use as gif sets but as an overarching script with characterization not so much. The narrative is fairly elegantly sliced and diced so that you get just the right amount of mix of past and present but at the same time... Just who cares? This feels directly aimed at a group of lost 20 somethings stumbling their way through life, but as a lost 20 something myself I'm sick of seeing these kind of movies (always set in NYC!) and the individual scenes don't really do anything for me. There are still some aspects that make this movie watchable: a threesome that goes wrong (I'm always partial to sex scenes that are good and by good I mean manage to maintain the flow of the story. So many movies just have all plot and emotion stop to get a few thrusts in. Akhavan understands how to continue to build the narrative using the sex scene). The ending of the film is very cathartic and pitch perfect as well. How Akhavan manages to nail some of the most difficult aspects of filmmaking while flubbing the middle is beyond me. It gives me hope however that she'll continue to improve.

source: Appropriate Behavior

Greetings again from the darkness. It's finally here! That is, if you have been anxiously awaiting a twist in the New York hipster Romantic Dramedy genre; and if the twist you want is a semi-autobiographical story of a Persian bi-sexual female whose focus in life is making her ex-partner jealous, while hiding the truth from her own conservative parents. Desiree Akhavan is the first time writer/director who also stars as Shirin, the lead character described above. Ms. Akhavan and the movie owe so much to Lena Dunham ("Girls") that the opening credits should have had a placard stating "Inspired by Lena". There is no shame in crediting those who influence one's work. We also see touches of Woody Allen and Nia Vardalos in Akhavan's writing, and Greta Gerwig in her acting style. What we haven't seen before, is an opening scene depicting the leading character breaking up with her partner and walking down the street toting her strap-on. Shirin is a twenty-something New Yorker who is insecure and judgmental, cynical yet hopeful, lacking in self-esteem, without any discernible professional talent or social skills, and void of any ambition … other than making her ex, Maxine (Rebecca Henderson) so jealous that she will come running back. Her "plan" is to sleep with many strangers of both sexes until one of these trysts makes Maxine see that she can't live without Shirin. She does all of this while dodging poverty working at a kindergarten teaching filmmaking to 5 year olds. We are told Shirin has a Masters in Journalism, just so we understand she has chosen this path in life. As a filmmaker, Ms. Akhavan shows real promise. Her feel and eye for crucial scenes between two people is very strong, though the dialogue could have used some help – many of the one-liners probably sounded funnier in her head than they come across on screen. Her use of flashbacks was especially creative as she juxtaposed good and bad moments of Shirin/Maxine with what's happening at any given moment. The sexual escapades and the unique community of New York hipsters will probably prevent this from any type of mainstream success, but it should provide opportunities for Akhavan as a filmmaker. Not surprisingly, as an actress, she will be appearing in the next season of "Girls". The Persian undercurrent seemed to provide the most potential for a real story of interest, though the focus on bi-sexuality more readily grabs headlines. Shirin's relationship with her parents and the Iranian community offered a chance for illumination and unique exchanges, but unfortunately most of these were glossed over for the next party or pick-up. "Persians communicate mostly through gossip" is a fascinating line that begged for more attention, and Shirin's attempt to come out while talking with her mom was well done and so deserved a follow up. Supporting work is provided by Halley Feiffer (daughter of Jules Feiffer) as Shirin's best friend Crystal. Ms. Feiffer steals every scene in which she appears, and had me wanting to learn more about her character. Scott Adsit ("30 Rock") plays the urban-stoner dad who gets Shirin her the teaching job that leads to the "Tale of the Lost Fart" – the turning point for Shirin as she finally reaches the moment when she realizes she has gotten over Maxine. The first film from an exciting new talent always brings a balance of anticipation and a reminder to keep our hopes in check. Here's hoping Desiree Akhavan has more to say.

In Brooklyn, Shirin is lost after breaking up with her girlfriend Maxine. She's got a Masters in journalism but no job. Her Persian family doesn't know about her bisexuality. Her brother is annoyingly successful. Her boy-crazy friend Crystal recommends her to Ken (Scott Adsit) for a job teaching movie-making to kids but it turns out to be more like daycare. There are constant flashbacks to her relationship with Maxine as she tries to move on with other people. At its heart, the movie is the traditional single-gal-in-the-city. Desiree Akhavan infuses it with a little bit of a Persian family and bisexuality which keeps it fresh. Her writing is pretty good especially for her theatrical debut. There are a couple of really good laughs. Buying a bra scene is really funny with Crystal's reactions. I also love her mother's reaction to her coming out. Desiree's acting is pretty good but not great. Overall, this is a nice little angsty indie and hopefully this is the start of an interesting new voice.

The films major strength are the performances. The main characters feel well fleshed out and are more complicated. They have differing views on sexuality and life, and you can see their relationship working and failing in real life. The majority of the accompanying cast, whilst primarily only serving the scene they're in are usually within a well written scenario that either aids the story or humour. However the men are usually depicted as largely braindead. This wouldn't be an issue if the protagonist wasn't supposed to be bisexual (however I will concede that may be the point, that she's only labelling herself as such due to social pressures. But if it is the film is too ambiguous). The films humour is a bit hit and miss. The parts that miss are the cliche 'saying something semi-outlandish and then it's awkward' or 'making a snarky judgment on someone and then have them reveal how noble they are' but they worst jokes are they jabs at NYC hipsterdom, mainly because the film doesn't seem to have the self awareness to realise all the characters are those personalities. The humour that works (aside from the kids film) is when the characters are just talking and adds a great deal of authenticity to the film. The story follows a scene pattern that becomes dull fairly quickly (bar/event, meet x, hookup, flashback), but is just clever enough and well written to keep you watching. It's also not that long.

I'm not one for lengthy reviews. I thought it was an interesting slice of life. Pretty close to reality for a gal of this age in NYC. Like the rest of us, this character is just trying to figure it all out. She's flawed in a number of ways and watching her try and just make it through the day is mildly uncomfortable and usually quite funny. A lot of these reviews are calling this a "hipster" or "shallow" film and I have to disagree. In fact, I don't think these people know what a hipster really is because this movie doesn't depict that at all. If anything, it's more about the lost generation of GEN Y. Those of us who are too old to be hip and too young to have truly lived in the grunge life. The generation that should probably have it figured out by now, but we don't. And that's okay. The title character, Sherin, is exactly that. It didn't strike me as the kind of movie that was supposed to leave you feeling like a new person with a whole new outlook on life. It was just one girl's well told story.

I was excited to see this indie and for a low budget film in NYC it is quite well done. Being that is was a Sundance film I was expecting something really revelatory. Unfortunately it really wasn't. It took a long time to get going. The whole first half of the film was essentially exposition in the form of complaining. Nothing was really happening to the characters. They weren't doing or experiencing anything. Instead we learn the characters history as she complains about losing her girlfriend to friends and deals with her family dynamic. While none of that is bad per say, it certainly wasn't that engaging. The film picks up speed after that and we get to see our lead actually experience things. However the star/writer/director utilizes flashbacks to tell the tale of how she got here, but the cuts backward and forward have no style, they are just cuts. So the film feels awkward and you get confused as to where you are in time too easily. Maybe it was intentional, as the lead is really off kilter as her life is put in shambles. But for this viewer, it didn't really work. You always eventually figure out where the timeline is, but it takes a while into each new scene to know. There are many ways to make flashbacks and jumping around in time work for an audience, but none of them are used and therefore it's all just basic editing and cutting and it feels clunky. In conclusion, this is a competent first feature. You have to commend anyone who finishes a feature and does so competently. It isn't a perfect movie, but what is? It could have used some more work with the script and structure. Visually it's fine, but again not a revelation in indie cinematography. Can't really fault them for that though, as you only have just so many locations and it is mostly people talking. If you get too artsy with that it can be detrimental to the simple story being told. If you like indies and new filmmakers you could definitely do worse, but you can also definitely do better. For other films in this vein, millennial, edgy indie, OBVIOUS CHILD is far stronger.