Appropriate Behavior

Appropriate Behavior is a British-produced comedy film set in New York City, which premiered on 18 January 2014 at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.[1] Written and directed by Desiree Akhavan, the film—Akhavan's feature directorial debut—stars Akhavan as Shirin, a bisexual Persian American woman in Brooklyn struggling to rebuild her life after breaking up with her girlfriend Maxine (Rebecca Henderson).[2]

Appropriate Behavior
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDesiree Akhavan
Written byDesiree Akhavan
Produced byCecilia Frugiuele
Starring
CinematographyChris Teague
Edited bySara Shaw
Music byJosephine Wiggs
Production
company
Parkville Pictures
Distributed byPeccadillo Pictures
Gravitas Ventures
Release dates
  • 18 January 2014 (2014-01-18) (Sundance)
  • 6 March 2015 (2015-03-06) (UK)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The film's cast also includes Scott Adsit, Halley Feiffer, Anh Duong, Hooman Majd, Arian Moayed and Aimee Mullins. The film had a theatrical release on 16 January 2015 in the US[3] and was released on 6 March 2015 in the UK.[4]

Plot

Brooklynite Shirin, the daughter of well-off Persian immigrants, is left homeless and jobless after her girlfriend Maxine breaks up with her. With the encouragement of her friend Crystal she moves in with strange roommates and gets a new job teaching 5 year old Park Slope children the art of movie making.

Shirin's parents are confused as to why Shirin moved out of her old apartment as Shirin has never told them that she's bisexual and dating a woman. Determined to get her life back on track, Shirin begins trying to follow Maxine, hoping to rekindle their relationship. Maxine begins dating Tibet, a fellow teacher at the Park Slope school where she works. Shirin devotes herself to her work and comes out to her brother, who is mostly supportive, and her mother, who is in denial.

On the subway, Shirin tells Crystal that she again plans to bring up the issue of her sexuality with her mother in a month. She sees Maxine outside the subway car on the platform and the two women wave to one another.

Cast

Reception

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports a 95% approval rating based on 62 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Warm, funny, and quietly profound, Appropriate Behavior serves as a thoroughly compelling calling card for writer, director, and star Desiree Akhavan."[5] On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, the film holds an average score of '78', based on 19 reviews, indicating a 'generally favorable' response.[6]

David Rooney in his review for The Hollywood Reporter praised the film by saying that "The promise of fresh cultural perspectives gives way to a more amorphous slice of contemporary romantic angst comedy."[7] Ryan Gilbey wrote in the New Statesman that Akhavan is "a whiz (sic) at writing characters whose life seems to extend beyond their brief screentime."[8] Katie Walsh of Indiewire gave the film a grade of B+, saying that "Funny, unique, and entirely inappropriate, Appropriate Behavior is a supremely satisfying and irreverent take on the New York rom-com."[9]

Accolades

Year Group/Award Category Recipient Result Ref.
2014 30th Independent Spirit Awards Best First Screenplay Desiree Akhavan Nominated [10]
San Diego Asian Film Festival Grand Jury Prize Won [11]

References
  1. Setoodeh, Ramin (January 19, 2014). "Sundance: Why Desiree Akhavan Could be the Next Lena Dunham". Variety.
  2. Walsh, Katie (January 15, 2014). "Exclusive: Clip From Sundance Film 'Appropriate Behavior,' Writer/Director/Star Desiree Akhavan Talks Sex Scenes & More". IndieWire. Archived from the original on February 19, 2014.
  3. "Appropriate Behavior". Ion Cinema. Archived from the original on December 9, 2014.
  4. "Appropriate Behavior". filmdates.co.uk. Archived from the original on March 18, 2017.
  5. "Appropriate Behavior". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  6. "Appropriate Behavior". Metacritic.
  7. Rooney, David (18 January 2014). "Appropriate Behavior: Sundance Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
  8. Gilbey, Ryan (6 March 2015). "More Annie Hall than Girls, Appropriate Behaviour pulses with emotion". New Statesman. Archived from the original on March 7, 2015. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  9. Walsh, Katie (January 19, 2014). "Sundance Review: 'Appropriate Behavior' Is A Funny, Irreverent, & Unique Take On The New York Rom-Com". IndieWire. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  10. "Film Independent Spirit Award Nominations 2015 – Full List". Deadline Hollywood. 25 November 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  11. "2014 SDAFF winners announced!". sdaff.org. November 9, 2014. Archived from the original on November 13, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
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