Project spotlight: 'Lola Versus'

By Sarah Sluis

Since the successful release of Bridesmaids, everyone's expected female-driven films to start focusing on raunchy groups of women. But there's still a healthy amount of projects focusing on that traditional subject of female-targeted films, romance. Like a number of recent romantic comedies (The Break-Up, (500) Days of Summer), however, upcoming production Lola Versus skips past the falling-in-love part. It goes straight to the breakup and the aftermath. Fox Searchlight will release the film, which announced a number of casting decisions as it prepares to shoot in NYC.

Greta Gerwig stars as a 29-year-old dumped three weeks before her wedding. About to be single and thirty, she "embarks on a series of desperate encounters" in the aftermath of the breakup. Her ex will be played by Joel Kinnaman, who has distinguished himself in AMC's "The Killing." The supporting cast includes Debra Winger, Hamish Linklater, and Bill Pullman. Gerwig's best friend, a struggling actress, will be played by Zoe Lister-Jones. Real life couple Lister-Jones and director Daryl Wein co-wrote the screenplay. The duo wrote, directed, and starred in the semi-autobiographical 2010 romantic comedy Breaking Upwards, which drew the eyes of a lot of important people. I'm sure they wouldn't be doing this film now if it weren't for Breaking Upwards.

While the subject, the fear of getting older without having found a match, is a familiar one, Lola Versus has a cast and crew that make me feel the movie won't revert to the same stereotypes. Lister-Jones and Wein will likely turn to their own experiences to make the script realistic, not one of those overblown fantasies with girls with perfect jobs and perfect New York City apartments. I'm also a fan of Gerwig, who has such a "regular girl" thing going for her. It's been surprising to see her both glammed up in Arthur and purposely frumpy in Greenberg. The subject itself is also a clue. The premise takes away the "happily ever after" from the main character, then forces her to go on a journey to discover what life is like without tying things together so neatly. That kind of realism isn't depressing, it's inspiring. I've enjoyed seeing break-up films offer insightful, poignant details on relationships. Traditional romantic comedies, so eager to end with a kiss and a promise, don't have time for this kind of introspection.