"’It was too much fun to agree with her,’ Tracy Fishko (Lola Kirke) says about her almost-stepsister Brooke Cardinas (Greta Gerwig) at the beginning of Mistress America, before either character appears onscreen, and her observation, like most that she makes throughout Noah Baumbach's extraordinarily witty movie, proves to be spot-on. Both Tracy and Brooke are deluded about aspects of their own lives, but they remain remarkably astute about the people around them, and eventually, at crucial emotional moments in the story, about the lies they tell themselves.
“Mistress America is a lively and clever comedy, and this appreciation could easily consist solely of a list of quotable lines. But the genius of Baumbach and Gerwig's screenplay is that nothing is said simply for a laugh, that every seemingly tossed-off line provides new levels of character insight. Brooke, a dreamer who lives in the literal embodiment of superficiality (Times Square), seems to be driven entirely by her own unearned self-confidence, but her obliviousness is her protective shell, her way of pushing away all of the doubts and insecurities that she never forgets entirely.
“Brooke's insecurities and Tracy's insecurities dovetail perfectly, as the two young women bond instantly thanks to the impending marriage of their parents. The awkward Tracy, struggling to fit in during her freshman year of college, is both awed and inspired by Brooke's breezy self-regard, and she uses it to bolster her own confidence. Brooke in turn feeds off of Tracy's unconditional support, and they fuel each other's best and worst tendencies in equal measure.
“Their symbiotic relationship comes to a climax during the film's brilliantly staged half-hour stretch at the upscale suburban home of Brooke's ex-boyfriend Dylan and frenemy Mamie-Claire. First, when Brooke presents her wildly unrealistic idea for a homey restaurant called Mom's, Tracy fills in the gaps of her pitch, describing something that sounds more like a surrogate for the healthy family life neither one ever had, and both are now seeking in the other. Then, when Brooke reads Tracy's scathing (but incisive) fictionalized story about her, the illusions of their relationship break down completely. While minutes earlier they were constructing a fantasy life together, now their selfish inner agendas are laid bare.
“Even at its most emotionally devastating, though, Mistress America is never depressing or pessimistic. Brooke and Tracy have high-class problems, and being high-class is part of their problem, but they are not bad people. They're too smart and too naive, about both each other and the world around them, but Baumbach and Gerwig don't judge them for it. The movie alternately laughs at and with the characters, and allows them to laugh at and with each other. Life is ridiculous, and sometimes the only way to get through it is to pretend you have everything figured out. Brooke holds on to that belief all the way to the end, and it's too much fun to agree with her.” ~ Josh Bell
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