If I wanted to hear obnoxious hipsters inarticulately babble about their stupid shitty bands, there are a billion coffee shops in this town I could hang out in. I just wanted to throw all these characters off a bridge (and Justin Rice has a very punchable face). But I don't want to be completely dismissive. I get that the awkwardness and inability to communicate is kind of the point, and there is some truth here. But this style of performance is far too irritating.

"A modest step up from its assured predecessor in both content and form." - Nick Schager

I prefer my movies about nothing to have a little more something, ya know?

The only mumblecore movie I would ever want to watch again.

Bujalski follows up Funny Ha Ha with another strong slice-of-life ultra-indie comedy. It feels a hint more polished than the last film with moodier black and white photography and Justin Rice's extremely likable leading performance, but still retains the same voyeuristic charm, realistic awkwardness, and highly relatable characters.

In an alternate universe where indie films were still usually made in grainy b&w 16mm, this film would feel in its place. Today, however, it's unusual to find these kind of films, and even more so when they have such striking emotional realism and assured style. The quest for some kind of authentic emotion of people trapped in a generation that analyzes itself to death has rarely been portrayed so vividly. Perhaps too small to stand on its own, it feels like an early work of a great filmmaker.

Bujalski's follow-up to the winning "Funny Ha Ha" is very much in the same downbeat tone with unpolished black-and-white cinematography to make it feel even more muted. The film follows three characters as they deal with relationships and aspirations, but it's mostly about that sense of personal drift of the post-collegiate years. There's a nice tangy humor throughout and every detail--the softly decrepit houses, the late-night, drunken conversations of hesitant bravery--is spot on.

Andrew Bujalski undertakes portraying self-aware, sensitive youngsters with authenticity and no gloss. He succeeds immensely not only in showing things for how they are, but also in proving how much dramatic friction one can get out of soft-spoken introverts who all but apologize for breathing.