Tiny Furniture (2010) starring Lena Dunham, Laurie Simmons, Grace Dunham, Rachel Howe directed by Lena Dunham Movie Review

Tiny Furniture (2010)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Lena Dunham in Tiny Furniture (2010)

A Tiny Movie

Having returned home following graduation Aura (Lena Dunham) doesn't really know who she is or what she is going to do with her life. In need of work she takes a job as a hostess in a restaurant where she ends up having a couple of relationships. But at home she struggles with living with her successful mum Sire (Laurie Simmons) and her confident sister Nadine (Grace Dunham) as Aura tries to define herself and what her place is on the planet.

I have just 2 points to make and first things first Lena Dunham clearly has talent. For what on paper sounds like a home movie with Dunham featuring her own family in this personal movie made for just $50,000 it has a good look. The camera work is solid even impressive at times as is the editing, the main roles actually have character and at times the writing is incredibly sharp and witty. Considering this was only Dunham's 2nd movie "Tiny Furniture" is surprisingly well made and not the usual visually weak stuff you get from a new movie maker working on a tight budget.

But Dunham lives in a very different world to me and a world which I struggle to empathise with or understand. When I left school the very next day I started work, it wasn't a job I wanted but there was none of this who am I, what is my purpose stuff going on it was about buckling down, earning money and making the best of things. It is in many ways the movie's stumbling block and I am sure one which Dunham would have been aware of because if you can't empathise with the character of Aura and what she is going through then this movie seems a little pointless and going nowhere.

What this all boils down to is that whilst "Tiny Furniture" didn't do it for me as a piece of entertainment I can appreciate the skill of a young movie maker making an actually impressive movie on a small budget.


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