Hannah Takes the Stairs

Let's be honest. Your movie could have Tom Cruise, Greta Garbo, Robert DeNiro and many other "stars" in it. It could be a collaborative piece co-directed by Martin Scorsese, Howard Hawks, Jean-Luc Godard. Sven Nykist could be doing the camera work. You could bill it as Robert DeNiro having real on screen sex with Greta Garbo and on and on and on. However, if it doesn't have a script or has just a minimal outline, then it will never be what it could be. Shows like Reno 911 are the exception to the rule. They are both no means the norm.

"Hannah Takes The Stairs" suffers from having no script. It is its glaring weakness and what, in the end, makes it wholly unsatisfying. As a whole, the story wanders around way too much and does not give its viewer a reason to really care for any of its characters. It is the kind of film you watch once and then forget about totally. If you were to ask me, should I see "Hannah Takes The Stairs", I would say, "Definitely. Watch it once but you won't ever want to watch it again."

When the movie started, with the amateur filming and uninteresting boobies scene, I almost turned it off right away. I ended up watching more, and really got into it. Of course it's nothing special, it's filmed like a low-budget TV series, but what makes it interesting is that it feels real. The characters are real, the story is real, the problems are real. I felt like I was watching a reality show with people who have relationship issues that I could relate to. Obviously, if you don't like reality shows, chances are you probably won't like this. Hannah was fun to watch, although she's a bit annoying at times. Overall I really enjoyed this simplistic home movie, it was very pleasant and real. The only thing I disliked was how it ended so abruptly, I wanted more!

Hannah Takes The Stairs has poor production values, a slow pace, boring locations, and no actors you have ever heard of, and that's what makes this film so special. This is clearly a film made by a group of friends and artists, exploring their lives and the art of film-making simultaneously. It's simplistic rawness allows for an honest, and at times voyeuristic tone that examines the simple difficulties of young people learning to make grown-up decisions. This film is certainly not for everyone, but if you can forgive the ultra-low budget blemishes it is very worthwhile. In many ways, Hannah Takes the Stairs is the future of film-making that Francis Ford Coppola predicted in Hearts of Darkness.

"Hannah Takes the Stairs" is a really low-budget, independent film. Congrats to the filmmakers for getting it made and out there for anyone to see.

They started out with a great simple boy and girl storyline which fit their means perfectly. They respected the audience by making all of the plot points quickly, and effectively moving through all the scenes. However, they did not seem to show this same respect for the main character Hannah. She was self-absorbed, irritating and completely unrelatable. By the end of the movie (if you make it that far) you just don't care if Hannah finds what she's looking for or not.

Should you see this movie? Probably not. But I do believe that all independent films deserve our support. Here's hoping their next effort is better.

No, "Hannah Takes the Stairs" is NOT a perfect movie, or even a great movie, or even a movie that I feel the desire to ever watch again. But, it still is worthwhile, it still has plenty of entertainment value, humor, heart, sadness, happiness, and so on and so forth. The film takes the typical "mumblecore" approach to things; the cast is made up of quirky, often romantically involved twentysomethings, the budget is extremely low, the dialogue feels improvised, but still clever, the comedy is awkward, the drama is slight, but still impactful. This film in particular embodies all of these characteristics to its own advantage, and felt stunningly realistic. Although the production value is blatantly low, the acting is strong, particularly Greta Gerwig's performance, which is at least somewhat responsible for kickstarting her career, which has obviously developed quite a bit over the past ten years! Her character is flawed, but she is also always likable. She and the rest of those populating the screen feel like real, well developed human beings. These are characters who I feel like I've met before...I've passed by them in life, I may have even befriended them. And now, on an unbiased screen, I can witness their rises, their falls, their good times, and their bad ones.