First Time Female Director

Shoestring-budget indie dramedy "First Time Female Director" has a snappy title, Amy Poehler & Max Greenfield in minor support, blink-n-miss-em cameos from Jordan Peele, Nick Kroll & Adam Scott... and absolutely nothing else. When her local theatre has no director for its new play, the playwright Chelsea Peretti (who btw is also the movie's first time female director (and writer)) steps up, trying to herd the cast (Megan Stalter, Benito Skinner, Kate Berlant, Blake Anderson, Megan Mullally & Jay Knight) thru the various pre-production phases. Tho it's supposed to be ironically cringily painful, it's just cringily painful... the irony falls flat, as does the movie. It is a painful experience.

From the beginning, Chelsea Peretti hits us with jokes and keeps 'em coming. I enjoyed this movie with its authentic take on a new industry professional struggling to make it in LA. The establishing shot of Sam's apartment complex felt very familiar as a starter apartment in the city. I also really dug the costume design for Sam, especially the colorful socks. Sam is instantly relatable to any modern day writer.

The cast is amazing! Megan Mullally, as always, gives a spectacular performance. From Kate Berlant to Megan Stalter, there is no shortage of hilarious actors in this film. My favorite supporting role is played by Amy Poehler as Sam's therapist, who unabashedly shares her own flaws with Sam, which may cause the audience to question the professionalism of their own therapists.

I am excited to see what Peretti does next. Her humour and delivery is unmatched.

I went in not knowing who the writer was. But in the middle of it, I was sure it was Chelsea Peretti, because her style of humor is very well displayed in the movie. She likes weird character quirks, more than jokes.

Thought what she did in the beginning with the form was interesting.

I didn't like that all the acting was very uncommited to the characters, like they weren't taking it seriously. And that's not a fault of the actors, that's part of Peretti's comedic style. That aloofness where they think that trying hard, and taking things seriously is cringe. But it just breaks too much of the suspension of disbelief.

I was familiar with Chelsea Peretti's comedic style, so I went in expecting it to be weird, quirky, and subtle. This movie delivered just what I expected. And it was even funnier than I thought.

Keep in mind that this is a parody. It's not meant to be taken seriously. And it's very meta in the sense that it's a first-time female director writing a movie about a play directed by a first time female director. In the movie itself the overt melodrama, I believe, is supposed to be evocative of the melodrama in a southern play.

I think it has many autobiographical elements, and over all it is a great quirky tease about the entertainment industrial complex.

Keep up the great work, Chelsea, and I hope you make many more funny movies.