Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Crabby McGrouchpants One of the things I always like about Swanberg's pictures ("Drinking Buddies," "Happy Christmas," et. al.) is how the characters' lives are always framed around work: however certain viewers might gripe about their dwelling unduly on the personal woes of twentysomethings, to my mind, there's something astute and Douglas Coupland-esque about their refusal to act like the people they're showing us don't have to go back to work, make sure their love lives are stabilized while on break, then patch things up during lunch or on the week-end, etc.This one's charming and unpredictable and savvy, which makes it, it would appear, a bit of a problem for the non-astute viewer used to being hit over the head: it's not "drama," it's drama. (Check out the part where the guy observes, "Office Romance: Good idea or Bad Idea? Bad Idea, but, okay ... now what?" Somehow these things don't come up in rom-coms where everyone can afford airfare easily.)Whimsical disappointment, and, I guess whimsical "spoiler" alert: the movie's got a slinky in it, but we never see it going down "the stairs"! ("What! I paid $8 to see this? Show me the slinky ... going all the way!")

Steve Pulaski The mumblecore movement in cinema has had notable ups, a few downs, but has so far been pretty consistent in my book. One of the films elevating it to a level of supreme naturalistic cinema is Joe Swanberg's Hannah Takes the Stairs, a raw and potent look at the title character and how she floats through life from points A to B, living in post-college hell.Hannah is played by Greta Gerwig; a woman of considerable screen presence who is only elevated by a charming array of supporting characters. During the first act of the film, she is dating Mike (fellow mumblecore filmmaker Mark Duplass), a listless louse whose impulsive decisions make him the worst kind of boyfriend. When he quits his job because at the moment he isn't satisfied, and after much contemplation, Hannah dumps him and becomes interested in her two coworkers at an internship in Chicago.The men are straight-shooter Matt (Kent Osborne) and offbeat Paul (Andrew Bujalski, another mumblecore filmmaker), who lounge around in their office talking up a real storm of nonsense and watching their lives uncomfortably transcend into adulthood. Hannah also has a close friendship with Rocco (Ry Russo-Young), a woman who is known for helping her through tough times and even content to sit with her in the shower when necessary.Swanberg's trademarks that appear to be continuous throughout his films are intimacy, sex, human communications, and technology, all of which seem to be shown here in some form. There's a high level of intimacy, mostly because the actors seem fearless in scenes where they casually change clothes and show full frontal nudity to the camera, and the fact that there are many shower sequences in the film where two characters will discuss things with each other bathing right beside them. This is a daring, provocative tactic, used not as a test on the audience's part, but as a way of showing humanity in its rawest possible form. One of mumblecore's main requirements is naturalism and here it is employed fearlessly through performances, events, dialog, and personal complications among the characters.As I watched the picture, I couldn't help but feel that Swanberg and his band of six writers, most of whom are the cast as well, have an incredible eye for post-college boredom and the uncertainty of it all. This is a picture where events and plot lines act as a gimmick, but are more of a true life-affirming revelation that many, many people experience after college, where you are beginning to discover what you are going to be doing for possibly the rest of your life. If you are facing this sort of life-uncertainty, it's the kind of film that reassures you in the sense that others may have that same problem.NOTE: Hannah Takes the Stairs is most likely meant as a metaphor, and I believe it symbolizes that she favors to float through life as an unambitious bubble rather than make the snap decision to ultimately pick a career and go from there. Or, "taking the stairs," if you will.Starring: Greta Gerwig, Kent Osborne, Andrew Bujalski, Mark Duplass, and Ry Russo-Young. Directed by: Joe Swanberg.

wes-connors An intermittent wobbly camera catches Greta Gerwig (as Hannah) and her friends talking, mumbling, eating, drinking, and keeping cool in the sweaty Chicago heat. The often glistening Ms. Gerwig goes from boyfriend Mark Duplass (as Mike) to boyfriend Andrew Bujalski (as Paul) to boyfriend Kent Osborne (as Matt). Hearing Gerwig and her rotating appendix chew ice cubes is annoying, but it's not as bad as listening to them blow trumpets. At least, you won't have to wait long for the star's best topless scene.*** Hannah Takes the Stairs (3/11/07) Joe Swanberg ~ Greta Gerwig, Kent Osborne, Andrew Bujalski, Mark Duplass

doug1967_1 What's the cheapest way to make a movie? Have two actors in a room talk to each other. That seems to be the case with "Hannah Takes the Stairs", an ultra-low budget film making the rounds in the art house theatres.The film is rather claustrophobic since most of the action takes place in just a few rooms, with what appears to be the occasional "stolen shot" outside. I say stolen because filming permits in a big city are rather expensive and the outdoor set ups have a "quick, get the shot and get out before the cops see us" feel to them (these shots only run a few seconds, which is the main indication).The characters talk about their lives and work, talk some more, have sex, talk some more, talk, talk, etc. The occasional nude scene keeps the audience awake, but with no real story to propel the film along I found it to be quite a snoozer.Not too surprisingly, all dialog was improvised—-and it shows. Scenes ramble on for quite some time and even though the film is less than an hour-and-a-half, it seems quite longer.Filmmakers, please write a script and actually have a plot. Without it, the most attractive actors and locations in the world aren't worth much if you can't keep your audience interested.