Indie cinema luminary and longtime Roxie/Indiefest favorite Joe Swanberg has a new film out. And it's a sweet, loving story of siblings, love, family, and growing up. Joe plays Jeff, an independent filmmaker (if he's not careful, he might get typecast) with a lovely writer wife Kelly (Melanie Lynskey) and a young son Jude (played by Joe's real-life son Jude.) When his sister Jenny (Anna Kendrick) breaks up with her boyfriend, she moves in temporarily, at least long enough to spend the holidays with them. But she's also kind of a drunken fuck-up party girl who puts a bit of strain on Joe and Kelly's quiet family life. Swanberg's movies are often not so much about story as about creating some sort of emotional truth to his scenes. And he's definitely got that here, not just emotional truth but emotional maturity which is very nice (not that I didn't like his more gonzo early films, but it's just cool to see this guy consistently mature as both a filmmaker and human being.)
And afterwards, we had a brief Q&A with Joe via Skype, and then next door to the bar for a fond farewell to
Mike Keegan at the Roxie (Keegan will still be a vital part of the SF Cinema scene, just not as a member of the Roxie staff.)
Running Time: 88 minutes
My Total Minutes: 368,742
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