I also want to be a broke artist in New York. It's kind of a dream of mine.This movie has been on my watchlist for-fucking-ever, and I knew I would like it. I was right. You can tell that this movie was heavily inspiring for Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig when they made 'Frances Ha', and while I love that movie, I feel the way 'Girlfriends' gracelessly handled many ideas of adultery, abortion, romance, platonic friendship, and other incredibly real moments with a layer of beautiful subtlety.
Claudia Weill reminds me heavily of filmmakers like Barbara Loden, Nancy Savoca, and Susan Seidelman as being able to capture people in a way that feels ripped straight from reality. The conversations and dialogue are rich with detail about the characters and feel improvised. The characters are all fairly likable and well-defined, leading to fun interactions that make this movie fly by.
Something movies similar to this fail at is finding an engaging hook, and from the start, we see Susan and Anne, and how Anne's moving out affects Susan. They have great chemistry, and it further makes these interactions more potent.
The pacing is great, the comedy hits, and it utilizes quieter moments of reflection that make the movie incredibly easy to connect to. It didn't seem like Weill made too much after this, but at least she was on the Directors' Executive Committee for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She has so much damn talent in the way she blocks her scenes that I'm honestly pretty jealous.
Great movie!