NETFLIX TINY FURNITURE
At first glance, Tiny Furniture looks promising. It has all the elements of a witty coming-of-age story that’s both meaningful and funny.
The only problem? It doesn’t deliver.
Lena Dunham, famous for creating Girls, wrote, directed and stars in the film about college graduate Aura, who returns home and attempts to rekindle her relationships with her family and childhood friend Charlotte. The film focuses on the real challenges faced by many graduates who don’t have a clue about the future and struggle to feel welcome in their own home.
The plot is simple and there’s no rush to get to the action. But that’s the problem: after 98 minutes of crying and screaming and hugs, absolutely nothing changes. Aura is supposed to move in with her friend from college. She doesn’t. Aura is supposed to start dating one of her two love interests. She doesn’t. Aura is supposed to find her way and get a better job. She doesn’t.
Aura meets two guys. She’s introduced to Jed at a party, and when he needs a place to crash, she invites him to stay in her house while her family is out of town. It appears as though things will heat up. But Jed simply uses Aura’s house as a hotel and never once shows interest in her, even though she clearly would like something to happen between the two of them. Keith is a chef from the restaurant Aura works at who just wants her to get him some prescription pills. Aura clearly likes him too, but he has a girlfriend. Toward the end of the movie, that fails to be a concern when he and Aura crawl into a construction pipe. It’s an unbelievably disgusting and pathetic sex scene.
And, yes, the plot is supposed to reflect the fact that life isn’t always exciting and things don’t always work out, but halfway through it becomes very apparent the movie is wasting your time. It struggles to make its point.
Charlotte is another low point. Her British accent and ridiculous behavior are too much for an otherwise subtle film. It’s hard to believe she could be a real person, much less that she’d ever be friends with plain-Jane Aura. Watching her prance around and say dumb, meaningless things is irritating from beginning to end.
And you know what else is irritating? Seeing Lena Dunham’s butt 78 times.
The number of times she walks into the living room with no pants on is way too high. She’s trying to make a statement about body image, but it’s overdone. Good for you, Lena, that you’re not supermodel-skinny and you still put your butt in a movie. Still, there’s a line between accepting the body in every form and flaunting the fact.
The film’s one redeeming quality is the portrayal of Aura’s family dynamic. Nadine, played by Grace Dunham, is a know-it-all 17-year-old who annoys Aura endlessly. The arguments between the sisters are realistic and helps explain why Aura feels like a stranger in her own home.
Toward the end, Aura’s mother — a successful photographer — comforts her as she describes her own struggles as a college graduate. There’s nothing over-the-top about the situation — just Aura and her mother lying in bed, talking quietly, but it adds a touch of heartfelt emotion and meaning to an otherwise dull film.
Witty lines in Tiny Furniture are so few and far between that the film can’t be considered funny. It’s unclear how a movie so utterly boring and useless could win best narrative feature at the South by Southwest film festival. The film tries so hard to be relatable, likable and clever that it just isn’t.
Save yourself the time and skip Tiny Furniture.
