''Mutual Appreciation'' is a 2005 independent film by

Andrew Bujalski Andrew Bujalski (born April 29, 1977) is an American film director, screenwriter and actor, who has been called the "godfather of mumblecore." Life and career Bujalski, born in Boston in 1977, is the son of artist-turned-businesswoman Sheila ...

who previously directed ''

Funny Ha Ha ''Funny Ha Ha'' is a 2002 American film written and directed by Andrew Bujalski. It has been described as the first mumblecore film. The film was shot on 16 mm film on a very low budget. It deals with the lives of people in their twenties as they ...

'' (2002). The script is primarily dialogue between a group of young people as they try to determine where they fit in the world. It is considered part of the

mumblecore Mumblecore is a subgenre of independent filmHoberman, J. (August 14, 2007).It's Mumblecore!. ''The Village Voice''. Retrieved on July 27, 2008.Lim, Dennis (August 19, 2007)Mumblecore – The New Talkies: Generation DIY ''The New York Times''. Retr ...

movement.

Plot

The principal characters are Lawrence, Ellie, Alan and Sara. Lawrence, a teaching assistant, and Ellie have been together for about a year. Lawrence loves Ellie, and she outwardly reciprocates while masking her doubts about their relationship. Sara is a radio

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

. She meets Alan, a former member of a band called The Bumblebees, at the radio station and invites him to her apartment.

Cast

Justin Rice Justin Rice is an American musician and actor. Music career Since 2001, he has played guitar for indie (music), indie rock band Bishop Allen. He also co-wrote the music for the documentary ''The Bully Project'' with band-mate Christian Rudder., ...

— Alan * Rachel Clift — Ellie * Andrew Bujalski — Lawrence * Seung-Min Lee — Sara * Kevin Micka — Dennis * Bill Morrison — Walter * Pamela Corkey — Patricia * Mary Varn — Rebecca *

Kate Dollenmayer Kate Dollenmayer is an American actor and media archivist. She debuted as lead actor in the 2002 film ''Funny Ha Ha'' by Andrew Bujalski. She obtained her BA in Earth and Planetary Studies from Harvard University in 1998 and then an MFA in film ...

— Hildy *

Keith Gessen Keith A. Gessen (born January 9, 1975) is a Russian-born American novelist, journalist, and literary translator. He is co-founder and co-editor of American literary magazine '' n+1'' and an assistant professor of journalism at the Columbia Unive ...

— Julian

Production

Shot in black-and-white, the film stars

of the indie rock band

Bishop Allen Bishop Allen is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, United States. The band's core members are Justin Rice and Christian Rudder, who are supported both on stage and in the studio by a rotating cast of musical collaborators. The ...

and features music from the band's debut album '' Charm School''.

's previous film ''

'' starred

Christian Rudder Christian Rudder (born September 1, 1975) is an American entrepreneur, writer, and musician. Education Rudder graduated from Little Rock Central High School in 1993. He attended Harvard University, graduating with a degree in mathematics in 199 ...

, also of

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 87% based on 54 reviews, and an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Director Bujalski continues to give cinematic voice to awkward, literate twentysomethings with noteworthy smarts and tenderness." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 84 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

References

External links

Mutual Appreciation Site

UK Site

* 2005 films American romantic comedy-drama films 2005 romantic comedy-drama films American independent films American black-and-white films Films set in Brooklyn 2005 independent films Mumblecore films 2005 comedy films 2005 drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films {{2000s-comedy-drama-film-stub