On paper Frances Ha sounds as grating as a useful cheese slicing implement, concerning as it does the befuddled misadventures of Frances (Greta Gerwig), in her late twenties, a little lost in life, her dance career is stalling, and her best friend has moved out of their flat share. So, Frances is forced to move on and finds herself in various homes as she tries to figure things out.

Sounds like the stuff of galling, mawkish indie fare, and at times it does skirt a little close to hip naïveté. Fortunately though it benefits from a cynical world view, Frances is undoubtedly the sanest character here, just locked into a little arrested development, and surrounded by people either too pretentious, molly-coddled or esconced in bliss to really notice her genuine charms.

What holds Frances back from flying free is her reliance upon others, and it's during a blandly disastrous trip to Paris that things are thrust into perspective for her.

Co-written by Gerwig, with director Noah Baumbach (Margot At The Wedding, Greenberg), this slight film may be superficially obvious, its conclusions somewhat painfully predictable, it does succeed thanks to the immediately likable presence of its lead. It's important not to want the character to change, just to get a little perspective, and its sad that one of the film's concluding elements seems to cosy her towards one of the films dullard supporting characters.

There is a strong ensemble around Gerwig, most notably Mickey Sumner as her best friend Sophie, managing to retain our sympathy despite having to be the 'grown up' at times. Otherwise it's a rogue's gallery of richkid hipsters, dinner party snobs and icy business types, which though cartoonish do create a relatably heightened microcosm of "success".

Weirdly though the film seems to both berate and be beholden to the same crowd, Frances at times is depicted as a figure of fun, when her outlook is the most genuine and honest amongst a shallow sea of emotional recluses. It makes the film's conclusion a mixed bag emotionally, with things all tied up in a frustratingly neat package that doesn't quite reflect reality in the way the film seems to aspire to.

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