Good Posture

Good Posture is a 2019 American comedy-drama film, and the directorial debut of actress Dolly Wells, who also wrote the screenplay. It stars Grace Van Patten as Lilian, a young woman who moves in with her father's friend, the famous and reclusive author Julia played by Emily Mortimer. Wells and Mortimer had previously collaborated on the British sitcom Doll & Em, which they created, co-wrote, and starred in.

Good Posture
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDolly Wells
Produced by
  • Maggie Monteith
  • Jamie Adams
Written byDolly Wells
Starring
CinematographyRyan Eddleston
Edited byAdelina Bichis
Production
company
  • Dignity Film Finance
  • Talland Films
  • Twenty Dollar Pictures
Release date
  • April 27, 2019 (2019-04-27) (Tribeca)
Running time
91 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The film also stars Timm Sharp, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, John Early and Nat Wolff, with cameos from authors Zadie Smith, Martin Amis and Jonathan Ames.

Plot

Lilian (Grace Van Patten) is a budding artist living in New York City after her father abruptly moved to Paris with his girlfriend. After her boyfriend dumps her for being immature, Lilian moves in with family friends Julia and Don.

While Don, a musician, is warm and friendly Julia, a famous and reclusive novelist, immediately clashes with Lilian. After Don disappears following a fight with Julia, Julia sequesters herself in her room and begins communicating with Lilian through messages in Lilian's private journal.

After running into her ex-boyfriend and his co-worker, a filmmaker, Grace claims she is working on a documentary about Julia to impress her. Rather than ask Julia for permission, Lilian begins scouting for cameramen and uses her father's connections to contact famous writers and interview them about Julia.

While interviewing Jonathan Ames, Lilian learns that her father is back in New York but hasn't contacted her. She also learns that Julia is using her as possible writing inspiration and has used her as inspiration before, when she was a child.

Julia accidentally discovers that Lilian is making a documentary when Lilian is late to meet her cameraman, Sol, and he enthusiastically tells Julia everything. Julia cuts off all communication with Lilian. Depressed, Lilian makes a move on Julia's reclusive dog walker George (Timm Sharp) who rebuffs her.

Lilian finally makes contact with her father who doesn't tell her that he and his girlfriend are engaged and expecting a child despite Lilian having been made aware by other people.

Lilian decides to try to make amends with Julia by writing her an apology note and finally reading her most famous work, Good Posture. Lilian gets a job and decides to leave Julia's home. Before she leaves Julia allows her into her room indicating she has forgiven Lilian.

The following morning, as Lilian leaves she sees Julia outside for the first time, walking her dog. She meets Don and the two walk towards the subway together as Lilian walks in the other direction.

Cast

The film contains cameo appearances from authors Zadie Smith, Martin Amis and Jonathan Ames.[2]

Production

The screenplay was written by Wells, and it took ten days to film in Brooklyn, New York.[2]

Release

It had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 27, 2019.[3]

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 95% based on reviews from 19 critics, with an average score of 6.6/10.[4] On Metacritic the film has a score of 69 out of 100, based on reviews from 8 critics.[5]

Critics were generally favorable on the film's debut. Tomris Laffly of Variety stated that "Dolly Wells' good-natured directorial debut can't escape a first-film feel" the critic also found it "just affable enough" and singled out actress Grace Van Patten for a "sensational" performance.[6] David Ehrlich, writing for IndieWire, found the film "more than enjoyable enough to suggest that Wells is no slouch" but "more of a snack than a fulfilling meal" that "struggles to find its focus"[7] Kimber Myers, critic for The Playlist, praised the film, and wrote: "Wells’ script is genuine and funny, authentic in its insights into real-feeling humans and their connections" and that it "treats its audience with intelligence and doesn't feel the need to explain everything, trusting the viewer will have what they need to understand what's happening and who these people are."[8]

References
  1. "Good Posture". Tribeca Film Festival. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  2. Grater, Tom (December 22, 2017). "Emily Mortimer, Grace Van Patten wrap US comedy-drama 'Good Posture'". ScreenDaily. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  3. Hayes, Dade (March 5, 2019). "Tribeca Film Festival Unveils Feature Lineup, With Screen Time For John DeLorean, Muhammad Ali, Chelsea Manning". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  4. "Good Posture (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes.
  5. "Good Posture". Metacritic.
  6. Laffly, Tomris (May 1, 2019). "Tribeca Film Review: 'Good Posture'". Variety.
  7. Ehrlich, David (April 29, 2019). "'Good Posture' Review: Dolly Wells' Charming Directorial Debut — Tribeca". Indiewire.
  8. Myers, Kimber (April 29, 2019). "The Charming 'Good Posture' Features Terrific Performances From Grace Van Patten & Emily Mortimer". The Playlist.
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