Frances Ferguson

My film club screened this movie today and I enjoyed it quite a bit. The movie is a very original, dry comedy with lots of offbeat,funny narration by Nick Offerman. And Kaley Wheless is terrific in the lead role. I took the film as a satirical story of a lost-in-life twenty-something female. Many of the side characters that Francis meets are also very funny.

I saw this movie at the SXSW film festival when it premiered, I liked it, the movie is offbeat but settled into a kind of funny rhythm that it maintained. It's about a teacher having an affair with a student. It was a cast and crew screening so there were people laughing at everything which I hate. I wanted the movie to keep going but it was also daylight savings time and I was kind of out of it.

It might not be everyone's cup of tea but this kind of comedy works perfectly for me. The nihilistic behaviour of the main character Frances Ferguson is a delight to watch. Very good job from Kaley Wheless playing this attractive sex offender. The subject might be controversial but to be honest I think most of the males fantasized about their sexy teacher at one point. That said the story is what it is, to me it was funny, and adding Nick Offerman as the narrator for this movie is probably the best move you could do. He has that kind of soothing voice that is very pleasant to listen to. I'm a big fan of Nick Offerman since watching Parks and Recreation, and even if you don't see him physically in this movie he still has that funny input just with his voice. Frances Ferguson is a simple but effective comedy.

I got to watch this movie last year in Italy at a small film festival in Torino. It's nice to see Amazon supporting this kind of work. I think this kind of movie needs to be seen with an audience, but still held up watching it the second time from home. Nick Offerman tends to make me laugh.

I'm not familiar with the director or writer, but I hope to see a great deal more of lead actress Kaley Wheless in the future. Her facial expressions speak volumes, and she manages to telegraph a whole attitude with one angry, simmering glance. Her character is nihilistic and beyond caring. I feel like there could definitely be a backstory, but then it's already clear where her life had gone. How she decides to deal with it is what the film is about. Funny, and certainly worth a watch.