Hannah Takes the Stairs

gives just enough structure to a slice-of-life sketch about two small-time video producers and their fetching assistant.

Throughout, Gerwig is smart and engaging...

...Swanberg, within individual scenes, captures reasonably perceptive truths about communication and love.

Director Joe Swanberg strips his characters until they are both literally and emotionally naked. Constantly in extreme close ups, this is naturalistic cinema at its most exposing.

Hannah (Greta Gerwig), the peroxided heroine,leaps from one hookup to the next, but is she searching for passion or just treading water?