Genre: Comedy drama
Director: Nathan Adloff
· Cast: Natalie West, Tyler Ross, Conor McCahill, Gaby Hoffmann
Nate & Margaret, actor Nathan Adloff's adorable directorial debut, seems at first blush like a pretty ordinary indie comedy. Its premise, in fact, is conspicuously familiar: It tells the story of an unconventional friendship between Nate (Tyler Ross), a 19-year-old film student, and Margaret (Natalie West), a 52-year-old aspiring stand-up comedian, referred to as "grandma" by Nate's friends. This age difference is never taken to be the film's defining feature, but I expect it will be cause enough for the film to earn near-constant comparisons to Harold & Maude, with which Nate & Margaret has almost nothing else in common. (It probably doesn't help that the film is being sold as a "fresh 21st-century twist" on Hal Ashby's cult classic, but far be it for me to dissuade marketers from doing their job.) On paper, Adloff appears to have crafted a fleetingly amusing twee gem, the sort of precious indie darling for which hipsters everywhere will swoon. Which sounds, frankly, like some seriously tiresome bullshit. Nobody wants to see Juno with a spinster. But what's remarkable about Nate & Margaretis that it's so much more, and so much better, than its setup could suggest. This is an endearing, hopeful, and quietly radical film, a progressive comic drama made with real, palpable wit and heart.
Nate & Margaret begins like most indie comedies of its kind: We're introduced to two lovably quirky characters, rapidly adapting to the rhythms of their friendship, watching them pillage a thrift store for oddities as idiosyncratic as they are. These early scenes, set to the ceaseless wide-eyed jingles of trendy indie-pop groups, have a somewhat cutesy quality that more cynical viewers may find grating, but soon enough the film finds a voice that's more even-keeled and appealing. Margaret works at a coffee shop during the day, and at night she hones her craft at local stand-up dives—including the coffee shop itself, which allows her to practice her routine while serving. Nate, meanwhile, is cornered and kissed by a charmingly assertive guy at a party, and he soon finds himself set up on a more formal first date. It's at roughly this point that Nate & Margaret becomes a film divided neatly in two: On one side, Margaret struggles to make a name for herself in the stand-up circuit, while on the other Nate loses himself in a relationship that's moving too fast.
Nate & Margaret download a movie
Nate & Margaret movie