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TINY FURNITURE Movie Reviews
Story: Comedy drama about a rudderless young woman who returns to live in her childhood home, a loft in downtown Manhattan which she shares with her mother and younger sister, after graduating from college. Cast: Lena Dunham, Laurie Simmons, Grace Dunham, David Call, Alex Karpovsky Director: Lena Dunham Opened: November 12, 2010 On DVD: April 1, 2011 From: IFC Length: 1 hr. 38 min.
Out On DVD
APRIL 1, 2011
Tiny Furniture, Very Good Reviews Key Cities
Updated: Mon, Mar 5 2012, 10:26pm
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Tiny Furniture played in key cities to very good reviews. • Peter Travers wrote in Rolling Stone, "An original new voice in film is something rare and worthy of celebration. So let’s toast Lena Dunham, the gifted writer-director-star of 'Tiny Furniture,' a low-budget ($25,000) comedy of touching gravity that finds god in the details, and the devil too." • And Tom Long wrote in the Detroit News, "Artful, smart, funny, sad and in its own small way dazzling..."  More Reviews Below...

Tiny Furniture
Positive Reviews
(36 Reviews,  reviews below)
 Compare This Movie... 
TotalBroad
National
Press
Local
News-
papers
Alter–
native/
Indie
High-
Brow
Press
Movie
Industry
NY/LA
Chicago
Toronto
Key
Cities
Total
B.O.
77.0% 82.5% 75.8% 62.6% 76.1% 63.8% 74.3% 73.9% $399K
Averages: 51.8% 54.1% 52.3% 46.9% 45.8% 48.7% 49.9% 54.7%
Reviews & Quotes (36)

BROAD NATIONAL PRESS (4 Reviews)
Jake Coyle, Associated Press: VERY GOOD (cg)
"...an exciting debut... This is a world not too distant from that of a Whit Stillman film or Wes Anderson's 'The Royal Tenenbaums'.... has the feel of a '90s indie, but its quality is better than you'd think." (Read the full review...)
691 words, 11/11/10

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: OUTSTANDING (cg)
"...a tiny tale of inertia, and it's also the grand triumph of a young artist with a mature trust in her own unique voice." (Read the full review...)
330 words, 11/12/10

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: VERY GOOD (cg)
"An original new voice in film is something rare and worthy of celebration. So let's toast Lena Dunham, the gifted writer-director-star of 'Tiny Furniture,' a low-budget ($25,000) comedy of touching gravity that finds god in the details, and the devil too." (Read the full review...)
501 words, 11/11/10

Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com: VERY GOOD (cg)
"Why do I feel such affection for 'Tiny Furniture'? It's a well-crafted film, for one thing. For a first picture, it shows a command of style and purpose; Dunham knows what she wants and how she needs to get it, and succeeds." (Read the full review...)
787 words, 12/09/10
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (9 Reviews)
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: GOOD
"...at times more pleasurable to think about than it is to watch, more of a conceptual coup than an enjoyable experience.... [But by] playing a version of herself and by closing the distance between art and life, director and lead Lena Dunham has gotten at something real." (Read the full review...)
1,042 words, 11/12/10

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: VERY GOOD (cg)
"As awkwardly endearing as its heroine... should charm anyone who remembers the painful fall from inspired student to befuddled post-grad." (Read the full review...)
137 words, 11/12/10

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: VERY GOOD
"...a bare mumble of mumblecore musings... What the film does well is capture the confusion of the identity abyss of twenty-somethings of a certain social class." (Read the full review...)
623 words, 11/26/10

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: OUTSTANDING (cg)
"...has an abundance of deadpan humor... The actors, mostly nonprofessionals, deliver their lines with understated charm, the pacing is just right and Jody Lee Lipes' cinematography is clear and concise.... one of the year's best." (Read the full review...)
381 words, 11/12/10

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: OUTSTANDING (cg)
"...a find -- funny and rueful and verbally dexterous, leavening a quippy screenplay with just enough honesty to make it stick.... full, assured and extremely wry." (Read the full review...)
473 words, 12/10/10

Rafer Guzman, New York Newsday: VERY GOOD (cg)
"...its vulnerability and honesty carry the day.... a smart, sincere movie with a charming young cast..." (Read the full review...)
304 words, 12/03/10

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: VERY GOOD (cg)
"Why do I feel such affection for 'Tiny Furniture'? It's a well-crafted film, for one thing. For a first picture, it shows a command of style and purpose; Dunham knows what she wants and how she needs to get it, and succeeds." (Read the full review...)
787 words, 12/09/10

J. Hoberman, Village Voice/LA Weekly: GOOD (NOT GREAT)
"...gets its kick not only for evoking a world of unromantic hookups, casual BJs, and iPhone porn, but for satirizing New York's bourgeois bohemia.... isn't exactly funny-ha-ha, although its tone is consistently droll and, save for the final ba-da-boom, the comic timing works." (Read the full review...)
726 words, 11/10/10
KEY CITIES (12 Reviews)
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: VERY GOOD (cg)
"...a film of modest scope but deceptively big ideas. What's more, it announces a promising talent in Dunham, a filmmaker possessed of a refreshingly skeptical voice and a frank, disarming vision." (Read the full review...)
510 words, 12/03/10

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: OUTSTANDING (cg)
"There's a fierce, self-lacerating wit on display... as big and bold as the production is modest and (literally) homemade." (Read the full review...)
460 words, 12/17/10

Peter Hartlaub, Houston Chronicle/San Francisco Chronicle: VERY GOOD (cg)
"...will probably be a polarizing film, with audience members walking out on it and declaring it a masterpiece in approximately equal numbers." (Read the full review...)
482 words, 01/07/11

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg)
"...a good looking, smart-mouthed comedy with people who don't look like movie stars. But Dunham's version of 'Reality Bites,' that collision between college expectations and harsh reality, runs out of gas by about the third time she confesses to her increasingly irate mom, 'I'm figuring it out.' " (Read the full review...)
699 words, 01/23/11

Claude Peck, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: OUTSTANDING (cg)
"Just when you think 'Tiny Furniture' is of the nothing-happens school of indie-filmdom, something more dramatic happens. Just when you think the slacker lassitude is overdone, there's a lemony streak of touching sincerity..." (Read the full review...)
387 words, 01/28/11

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg)
"...many of us have been here -- that first flush of post-college terror, remember? -- and Dunham makes it funny and involving before entropy kicks in at the two-thirds mark." (Read the full review...)
619 words, 12/10/10

Clint O'Connor, Cleveland Plain-Dealer: EXCELLENT (cg)
"...a thoroughly modern twist on the recent graduate dilemma... not the most polished production, but that's part of its charm.... a winning indie film thanks to Dunham's clever writing and the uber-casual approach of her collection of characters." (Read the full review...)
400 words, 01/07/11

Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: MODERATE (cg)
"...sounds fairly dull, and often it is, filmed in long, static shots that don't add any interest.... isn't really a movie, not yet, but it might be a beginning." (Read the full review...)
398 words, 12/24/10

Shawn Levy, Portland Oregonian: VERY GOOD (cg)
"...a marvel: a full-bodied, gorgeously crafted story..." (Read the full review...)
261 words, 12/31/10

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg)
"...arguably the 'Manhattan' of mumblecore, with richer visuals than the nickel-and-dime norm." (Read the full review...)
333 words, 12/10/10

Tom Long, Detroit News: EXCELLENT (cg)
"Artful, smart, funny, sad and in its own small way dazzling..." (Read the full review...)
300 words, 12/17/10
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (7 Reviews)
J. Hoberman, Village Voice/LA Weekly: GOOD (NOT GREAT)
"...gets its kick not only for evoking a world of unromantic hookups, casual BJs, and iPhone porn, but for satirizing New York's bourgeois bohemia.... isn't exactly funny-ha-ha, although its tone is consistently droll and, save for the final ba-da-boom, the comic timing works." (Read the full review...)
726 words, 11/10/10

Katey Rich, Cinema Blend: VERY GOOD (cg)
"...isn't essential filmmaking -- more like a calling card for a director with years of promising work ahead of her -- but it's surprisingly insightful and funny, an easy watch for indie film fans curious about the next big thing." (Read the full review...)
662 words, 11/18/10

Brett Michel, Boston Phoenix: VERY GOOD (cg)
"[A] portrait of post-graduate haze... It may sound hopelessly autobiographical, but Dunham has made an accomplished movie. She's one to watch." (Read the full review...)
150 words, 12/09/10

Noel Murray, AV Club: GOOD (cg)
"...a movie that plays like pages ripped at random from a smart screenwriter's notebook, then reproduced verbatim by a cast and crew that doesn't know what the pages are supposed to mean, let alone how to assemble them into what we humans call a 'story.' " (Read the full review...)
335 words, 11/12/10

Andrew Schenker, Slant: WEAK (cg)
"...writer-director Lena Dunham attempts to tap into the cultural moment by centering her film on an up-to-the-minute situation -- the paucity of options facing today's recent college grads... feels dispiritingly self-absorbed." (Read the full review...)
694 words, 11/07/10

Curt Holman, Atlanta Creative Loafing: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg)
"...proves to be a rickety fabrication even as it marks an impressive debut of a clever filmmaker in her early 20s." (Read the full review...)
651 words, 12/01/10
HIGHBROW PRESS (6 Reviews)
Bob Mondello, NPR All Things Considered: GOOD
"...a story that feels as true to life as you'd expect.... plays like situation comedy, but with an overlay of performance art." (Listen to the full review...)
201 seconds, 11/12/10

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: OUTSTANDING
"Once in a great while a debut feature leaves you blinking in amazement at the bountiful talent.... teems with deft observations and vivid characters." (Read the full review...)
454 words, 11/26/10

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: GOOD
"...at times more pleasurable to think about than it is to watch, more of a conceptual coup than an enjoyable experience.... [But by] playing a version of herself and by closing the distance between art and life, director and lead Lena Dunham has gotten at something real." (Read the full review...)
1,042 words, 11/12/10

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: VERY GOOD
"...a bare mumble of mumblecore musings... What the film does well is capture the confusion of the identity abyss of twenty-somethings of a certain social class." (Read the full review...)
623 words, 11/26/10

Dana Stevens, Slate: GOOD
"For a DIY second feature from a very young director, feels surprisingly assured, even elegant. There are those who will accuse it of wildly inconsistent tonal shifts, and it is guilty of some, but I appreciated the way this movie kept upending my expectations." (Read the full review...)
906 words, 11/12/10

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon: VERY GOOD
"...a quirky little comedy, not a film that will change your view of reality or anything, but it's funny, wrenching and sharply observed, with a dispassion that suggests a real artist is at work." (Read the full review...)
1,115 words, 11/11/10
MOVIE INDUSTRY (6 Reviews)
Joe Leydon, Daily Variety: GOOD (NOT GREAT)
"...often feels like a semi-autographical effort by a filmmaker trying to work out issues in her art that she's still confronting in life.... There's a homemovie quality to the pic... But there's also a solid ring of emotional truth in many scenes..." (Read the full review...)
709 words, 03/24/10

Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter: WEAK
"How Lena Dunham made her movie is more impressive or at least unique than the actual story she chooses to tell.... like sitting in on someone else's therapy sessions -- too much information about someone you don't know, and the more you learn, the less you want to." (Read the full review...)
693 words, 11/09/10

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: VERY GOOD
"...a bare mumble of mumblecore musings... What the film does well is capture the confusion of the identity abyss of twenty-somethings of a certain social class." (Read the full review...)
623 words, 11/26/10

Michael T. Dennis, Cinema 24/7: MODERATE (cg)
"...ambitious, but fatally flawed... caught between making excuses and satirizing the plight of young adults... Individual elements are strong and easy to admire despite being put to such unsatisfying uses." (Read the full review...)
900 words, 11/05/10

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: GOOD
"...at times more pleasurable to think about than it is to watch, more of a conceptual coup than an enjoyable experience.... [But by] playing a version of herself and by closing the distance between art and life, director and lead Lena Dunham has gotten at something real." (Read the full review...)
1,042 words, 11/12/10

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: OUTSTANDING
"Once in a great while a debut feature leaves you blinking in amazement at the bountiful talent.... teems with deft observations and vivid characters." (Read the full review...)
454 words, 11/26/10
(cg) = based on the critic's grade

Review Mixture
16.8 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews
(Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)

Tiny Furniture's reviews are separated by an average 16.8 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.

Tiny Furniture
(36 reviews)
Roll over dots for each review
Broad National   Alternative/Indie   Highbrow Press   Key Cities
NY, LA, Chicago, & Toronto Movie Industry  
Outstanding
Very Good
Good
Moderate
Weak
Poor
Reviews
Outstanding
Very Good
Good
Moderate
Weak
Poor
Reviews
Big
Publications
>Bigger
Publications
>Biggest
Publications
Coverage, Volume & Length

Coverage: Tiny Furniture's reviews cover 54.5% of potential readers (average is 68.2%). Volume: The film's reviews total 19,535 words in volume (average is 19,979 words). Length: The film's reviews average 543 words in length (the norm is 512 words).

Tiny Furniture
Coverage, Volume & Length
(36 Reviews,  reviews below)
TotalBroad
National
Press
Local
News-
papers
Alter–
native/
Indie
High-
Brow
Press
Movie
Industry
NY/LA
Chicago
Toronto
Key
Cities
Total
B.O.
Coverage:
Volume:
Length:
54.5%
19,535
543
35.6%
2,309
577
81.1%
9,080
478
88.0%
3,955
565
83.5%
4,341
724
100.0%
4,421
737
79.3%
5,210
579
79.2%
5,333
444
$399K
Averages: 68.2%
19,979
512
66.7%
3,178
451
80.2%
10,677
521
80.8%
3,310
430
58.7%
2,374
630
85.2%
3,407
685
83.7%
5,861
500
73.0%
2,885
539
Opening Day Reviews
Reviews Broke 9 Days After Release (Norm is 0.2 Release)

Tiny Furniture's reviews on average broke 9 days after opening. Norm for this measure is 0.2 hours after. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Tiny Furniture's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.

Tiny Furniture
(36 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
M O R E    P O S I T I V E    R E V I E W S
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R
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E
R
L
A
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M O R E    N E G A T I V E    R E V I E W S
Movie Review Intelligence Mobile Web App 1.0
Updated: Mon, Mar 5 2012, 10:26pm
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