Nights and Weekends

Joe Swanberg is one of those directors who you would find mentioned next to the "mumblecore" film movement. Like most film movements, mumblecore is hard to define. However, Nights and Weekends would fall under some of the key points of mumblecore. For example, the film was made with a micro-budget, it was made by filmmakers in their twenties, and it is largely dialogue driven. Swanberg, who had already made a few mumblecore films, writes and directs alongside Greta Gerwig, who was in Swanberg's LOL and Hannah Takes the Stairs. The collaborative effort of the two young actors has created a push and pull within the film, which is appropriate considering the subject matter. For, the film decides to, in a way, observe the relationship between James (Swanberg) and Mattie (Gerwig). The two are attempting to maintain a long-distance relationship. One lives in Chicago, the other in New York. This creates a tension and immediacy to the relationship, as well as fear and fleeting thoughts. Now, this last line may have been too subjective, for Gerwig and Swanberg never seem to tell you what their movie is. Instead, they let what happens happen. This allows for an audience to decide who the characters are based upon the evidence Gerwig and Swanberg decide to divulge. A strength of the film is that it is visceral at the same time as not saying much. It's the kind of film where the details in a synopsis could be debated because the filmmakers are so devious. Nights and Weekends might not attain profundity, but it expertly creates a portrait of a certain type of people in a certain type of situation. For me, that makes it a triumph.
Nights and Weekends: ★★★1/2