Planet Nation LBQ A break up movie with difference, told with on point narrative form and a blazing Independent spirt, this movie is about the journey to post-break up redemption.With current day exploits as Shirin deals with the madness of the relationship break up grieving process, the audience is drawn in to cleverly juxtaposed vignettes that adeptly portray and dissect the reality of the relationship itself from start to finish.At the same time, Shirin finds a new job that offers the opportunity for some personal growth as she reflects on the behaviour of 5-year-olds and has to play the grown up to them, learning there is always a time for play as well as a time for maturity. She eventually learns to face up to coming out to her family and the closure of the relationship.Some beautiful and moving moments, perfectly flawed characters, laugh out loud awkwardness, as well as a gentle edgy tone that together create a totally appropriate feature debut for Akhavan.

dodde-924-811259 This movie is excellent. It's about love, coming of age, queerness, straightness, New York (mostly Brooklyn), living with immigrant parents, so many things. The story telling is unique, witty, and pretty funny. Very dry humor.My one criticism is the chronology. The film could have been either more linear or more clear about the timeline. Although I will say that the editing style was very unique and I enjoyed the lack of Hollywood style conformity. All in all I give this film a solid A. If you like indie films and NY and the story of people's sexuality and life exploration this is a gem.

runamokprods I make an effort not to know too much about a film before I see it. That helps me have an experience less tainted by expectations, but it can also lead me to silly snap judgments that are dead wrong. After a few minutes I'd decided that Desiree Akhavan's Appropriate Behavior was just another in a long string of low budget 20- something self-involved dramedies I've seen in the last couple of years. But by the end I realized that Akhavan had taken that trope, and run her own unique and very funny spin on it. And the humor was a big part of what made it special. This movie was flat out funny. It wasn't afraid of being absurd or larger than life, or actively witty. It was intensely human and touching at times, but it also had great comic timing. In that respect Ahkavan's cinematic view of life and relationships in New York has more in common with Woody Allen circa Annie Hall and Manhattan than most mumblecore we've grown used to. She also created a unusually lovable (if self-sabotaging) main character for herself in Shirin; a bi-sexual young Iranian woman still in the closet to her parents, and attempting to recover from a painful breakup. Shirin doesn't really fit in anywhere. Because she's bi, lesbians (including the woman who broke her heart) view her with suspicion, assuming she's 'just visiting' relationships with women. Her parents keep waiting for her to meet a nice boy. She feels estranged from the Iranian-American culture she grew up with, but she's not as self-consciously hip and cool as the hipster poseurs she's surrounded by. And she has a knack for making some comic but awful life decisions, from a painfully failed threesome, to a gig teaching film-making to disinterested 5 year olds. This is a rueful and smart film about how screwed up and alone we all are… and yet how sweet life is in it's sad and silly way. It's an impressive calling card for Akhavan, and I'm looking forward to seeing what she does next.Follow up -- I saw this again, sharing it with some friends, and found it only grew on me. I was even more touched by the sweet heart at the middle of the comedy.

nicolemnesbitt I'm not one for lengthy reviews. I thought it was an interesting slice of life. Pretty close to reality for a gal of this age in NYC. Like the rest of us, this character is just trying to figure it all out. She's flawed in a number of ways and watching her try and just make it through the day is mildly uncomfortable and usually quite funny.A lot of these reviews are calling this a "hipster" or "shallow" film and I have to disagree. In fact, I don't think these people know what a hipster really is because this movie doesn't depict that at all. If anything, it's more about the lost generation of GEN Y. Those of us who are too old to be hip and too young to have truly lived in the grunge life. The generation that should probably have it figured out by now, but we don't. And that's okay. The title character, Sherin, is exactly that. It didn't strike me as the kind of movie that was supposed to leave you feeling like a new person with a whole new outlook on life. It was just one girl's well told story.