"Hannah Takes the Stairs" | Short takes

Indie is familiar, yet charming

"Hannah Takes the Stairs," with Greta Gerwig, Andrew Bujalski, Kent Osborne, Mark Duplass. Directed by Joe Swanberg, from a screenplay by Swanberg, Gerwig and Osborne. 83 minutes. Not rated; contains nudity, language. Northwest Film Forum.

The micro-budget "D.I.Y." movement of American independent cinema hasn't worn out its welcome, but with "Hannah Takes the Stairs" it shuffles into "been there, done that" territory.

Ironically, the movement's "greatest hits" (including "Funny Ha-Ha," "LOL" and "The Puffy Chair") may become just that: chestnuts from a trend that owes as much to YouTube as it does to the talents of its cash-strapped practitioners.

The fact that many of the best-known D.I.Y. filmmakers have graduated to studio-backed projects suggests that D.I.Y. is merely a pit stop for amateurs with ambition.

In "Hannah" (a group effort involving several of those upwardly mobile beginners), the title character — like most D.I.Y. characters — is a mixed-up 20-something (Greta Gerwig) whose Gen-Y malaise manifests itself as three back-to-back relationships, none of which seem particularly promising when Hannah's romantic confusion gets the best of her.

As played by Gerwig, Hannah is a bright, charming malcontent, lovable yet seemingly incapable of happiness. After an awkward breakup, she hooks up with one colleague, and then another. In true D.I.Y. fashion, we gather insight from small, revealing moments of human behavior, and "Hannah" takes full advantage of D.I.Y.'s signature style of loose, natural performances — captured with observant yet unobtrusive intimacy (and frequent casual nudity) by "LOL" director Joe Swanberg.

When it works, it works like a charm. Just don't let any of these filmmakers tell you they'd be happy to work like this forever.

— Jeff Shannon, Special to The Seattle Times