Beeswax

For his third feature, no-fi auteur Andrew Bujalski delves into the lives of yet another cluster of upwardly mobile twentysomething hipster types as they feign understanding of each other’s problems while anxiously trying to keep their own lives on point. Adopting the same muted approach to drama as his previous films (‘Funny Ha Ha’ and ‘Mutual Appreciation’), ‘Beeswax’ revolves around a trifling dispute between the patrons of a vintage clothing store in Austin, Texas as the slyly combative Amanda (Anne Dodge) plans to take the partially disabled Jeanie (Tilly Hatcher) to court. More than ever, Bujalski comes across like the natural heir to someone like Eric Rohmer, an artist who creates intricate, perceptive and artful cinema that rejects unnecessary style and contrivance. Also like Rohmer, this is a film about how language lacks the capabilities to convey the complexity of human feeling and that we have to look beyond what characters are saying to decode their thoughts and intentions.