free the nipple

i enjoy indie, under the radar films. i never know what gem of brilliance and good art i may find (knowing that i love the dark and dreary, a friend in malmo, sweden hipped me to 'let the right one in' after she'd read the book).

unfortunately, free the nipple is not one of them gems. it rips off everything from sophia coppola's production and art design, music soundtrack style, to the guerilla girls and pussy riot's pink robber masks. there is brilliant dialogue such as, 'we didn't get the permits. i let everyone down.' 

free the nipple is a film where you don't know what the fuck is going on or what the fuck just happened. the main protagonist is with (yes, with). she's a journalist looking for an amazing story. she happens across liv and her crew of boobs-out,cape wearing protesters. they have no name or a collective purpose other than if it's legal for men to go about shirtless, why can't chicks?

then with takes over. she becomes their primary investor, manager, and coach behind the whole movement. she names them girllrillas or some shit, she magically gets a $5k check and they move from working from liv's basement squat (which looks more like a loft than any squat i've ever seen) to an abandoned indoor pool. 

there's very little character development in this story; spaces and circumstances suddenly change. there's lots of magic in this movie. such as when liv gets arrested trying to save with and is held on a
$ 25k bond. the girls throw a fundraiser at a dive bar, but they come up $ 24,500.00 short! then with's friend, jim black, a cigar smoking public relations father figure, magically writes her a blank check. (for a feminist film about women being self-sufficient and defiant, it sucked that a daddy-figure eventually comes to the rescue anyway). there's no growth here.

i wasn't sure if it was going for comedy, melodrama or a weird mash of docu-dramedy. in a word, it's a mess. there are some nicely framed shots, cool art, good music, and a hilarious cameo by jeane garafalo (who i think was doing an impersonation of the performance artist marina abramovic).  otherwise this film isn't much more than a hipster trip without substance.

this is lina esco's first feature film. how she bankrolled this project is baffling, but she has some very rich friends. maybe someone thought she's the next lena dunham; all that hip, edgy, young girl power type-shit. but dunham is hands down a much more talented writer and director.  i read esco's profile which listed her accomplishments such as modeling in france and then moving to england to work in theater (i thought, coat check or concessions?). she also does stuff to help dolphins.

she had a role on the series 'cane' if you remember that at all. it was a prime time soap in the vein of dallas about a rich cuban-american family in miami. there was lots of rum, scando, and people strolling around the family estate in white linen clothes. it was cancelled after one season.

perhaps that gig gave lina the seed money to save flipper.

i don't recommend this film at all, but definitely root for beyond the lights!