Mr. Roosevelt

"Mr. Roosevelt" is about a young woman, a struggling actress and comedian, who spends most of the film acting like a petulant teenager. I mostly get impatient with movies about adults who can't grow up, and whether or not I can tolerate them is wholly dependent on how much the person at the film's center can make me like him or her. Noel Wells, who also wrote and directed this movie, isn't hilarious, and in another mood I might have found myself irritated by her, but she was funny enough to keep me watching, and when I think back on this film I do so with fondness. It's no big deal, and it doesn't really show us anything we haven't seen before, but it has that low-key indie vibe that's easy to relax into. And I did really appreciate the protagonist's attitude about her Facebook-obsessed generation, born of equal parts envy and legitimate frustration, because they're attitudes I've felt myself.

If you go in with reasonable expectations there's a good chance you'll like this one.

Grade: A-

Wells is a little comedic genius, where has she been hiding?

She wrote, directed and starred in this tale of a single woman in Hollywood who returns home to Austin, which alone is impressive, but she also does spot-on impressions of Holly Hunter and Kristen Wiig.

A fun serious/comedy, check it out.

I went into this because it seemed like a cute little film, and it was. It's not flawed or that amazing, but it's super enjoyable and funny, and it has a super hilarious actress in the lead role. I loved Noël Wells in Master of None's first season and I had no idea she was such a talented comedic actress. She's aces here and is definitely the best reason to watch the film. She's a huge talent to watch out for, not just in acting but in writing and directing.

This was a nice way to kill some time on a train ride. Enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I hope to see the lead actress in more films.

Yes, it's your typical navel-gazing Austin indie.

But it's cute, refreshing, real, and it delivers some good insights a lot of people may need to grow as a person.

May appeal to women more than men, despite lots of nudity.