High Art

Cholodenko's debut is an ambitious, intelligent but ultimately frustrating account of a young woman (Mitchell) who gets a job on a trendy Manhattan photography mag and goes for a big break when she discovers, thanks to a leaky ceiling, that the woman who lives in the apartment above her is a famous but reclusive retired photographer (Sheedy). The girl's introduction to the smudger's druggy, bisexual, boho world leads to trouble with her boss, her boring boyfriend, and much overall intrigue. Decent performances mean that the movie's fine as far as it goes, but the tone uneasily straddles satire and straight drama, and there's rather less here than meets the eye.