Gretchen

Great and lovely characters swim through a back drop of ugly dilapidated small town life in this slow burn character study that is touching, funny and poignant.

The film takes it's time to really allow us to see inside the mind of the title character, Gretchen (a charmingly tortured Courtney Davis). The film also boasts a wonderful supporting cast (with Becky Ann Baker who brought wonderful life to the unfairly cancelled Freaks and Geeks years ago) and creatively depressing production design including a fast food joint that God forgot (complete with gurgling nacho cheese machine) and the lamest techno rave ever conceived (at least they sold popcorn for 50 cents).

Great work to everyone involved and congrats on your success.

"Gretchen" is a sweet, funny coming of age movie about Gretchen Finkle – the most awkward 17 year old you've ever met. She dresses like she's twelve, hasn't been past second base, and has less than zero self-confidence. She seems to only be attracted to loser guys who treat her terribly, and the movie is about her journey to figure out why that is.

The director walks a fine line between making fun of Gretchen and letting her break your heart, and some people might not get it. I thought the tone was refreshing, and totally different than most "teen" movies (In the end, Gretchen might not become a popular cheerleader or "get the guy", but you still cheer for her all the way.) The actors aren't actually in their teens, however, which is part of what makes it funny. This is a movie made by adults who are looking back on those high school years, and commenting on how over-the-top dramatic everything was. It's funny, and painful.

I watched "Punch Drunk Love" again the other day, and realized that "Gretchen" is much more similar to this movie than to "Napoleon Dynamite" or "Welcome to the Dollhouse" (the two movies that I've seen it often get compared to). Gretchen is like a teenage version of Barry – lonely, scared, and harboring a pent-up rage that comes out in totally the wrong ways (Barry smashes a glass door; Gretchen scratches a classmate in the face). But unlike Barry, Gretchen hasn't yet met the person that's going to help her come out of her shell. We're just dropping in on her painful high school period.

"Gretchen" also has a similar tone to "Punch Drunk Love" (the way it skirts the line between comedy and drama), and there is a similarity in the look of both movies (precise compositions, dead-center framing, or the way the camera will rest for a long painful close up of Gretchen's face). Overall, if you enjoyed "Punch Drunk Love", I think you will probably enjoy "Gretchen".

Gretchen is an attempt at a farce-based dark comedy about a dorky, stuttering, clumsy high school student who is having an extremely difficult time communicating, to say the least. Courtney Davis looks about 10 years too old for the part of Gretchen, who acts about 8 years old, keeps falling for grubby long-haired guys who look like Meat Loaf, are apparently mentally retarded, and who will assuredly ultimately betray her ("do you know what a pattern is, Gretchen?). And then there's dad.

It's The Jerk meets Benny and Joon, with a only a touch of Welcome to the Dollhouse. And it is slow.

Many in the audience found it funny, but many in the audience worked on the film or knew the filmmakers. When a big cheer goes up for the key grip credit, you haven't exactly been hearing an accurate audience reaction to a film.

By the way, I really liked Punch Drunk Love (see other User comment).

A hilarious, tongue-in-cheek depiction of an awkward girl's bad-boy obsession.

I heard this referred to as "Napoleon Dynamite with a female lead." That is accurate to a point. While Gretchen does employ the subtle, dead-pan humor that is found in the utter niavety of the main character, this is where the similarities between Gretchen and Napoleon Dynamite end.

This movie uses that humor to explore and approach serious questions of suburban life in modern America and incorporates those common themes of isolation, danger seeking (by finding that exciting bad-boy) and that snowballing phenomenon of rejection that occurs in high school.

This film is slow paced, so it is not the best choice for a party, but perhaps if you have an hour and a half to appreciate this movie and its very reserved brand of dark humor, you should be pleasantly surprised!

I often scan the Sundance Channel for films that catch my eye and I thought I would give this movie a try and I was mesmerized from the very first minute! I loved this quirky movie about a sweet, socially awkward girl who falls in love with the bad boys. I loved her mother's soft and loving approach toward her. She was such a pure, innocent darling who wanted to fit in somewhere and who longed for the love she missed out on by not having a dad. I loved her tenacity, especially upon meeting her dad and it turns out she and her dad are so much alike, too! Adorable film, I couldn't take my eyes off it and I loved every minute of it!!