Tiny Furniture On DVD: Couch Gags

Lena Dunham has had a movie that she wrote, directed, and starred in added to the Criterion Collection, and created a TV show for HBO (with Judd Apatow serving as executive producer), all before the age of 25. So is she the biggest female triple threat to come out of the indie-film world since Miranda July, or a very, very fortunate young woman who has somehow been able to leverage a minuscule body of work into a high-profile movie career?

Something tells me it might be all downhill from here for Lena Dunham—I suspect we've already seen the full range of her acting and writing talents—but her debut feature Tiny Furniture is still worth checking out now that it's available on home video. It's also interesting to see Judd Apatow taking her under his wing—as someone who doesn't come from the improv world, and whose comic sensibility is more wry than raunchy, she is not a typical Apatow protégée. (Also, as a professional crossword-puzzle constructor, it is great to have a new famous Lena around to give us a break from inventing clues about Lena Horne.)

Tiny Furniture is my "Hidden Movie Gem" pick this week for CBC Radio. You can hear me talk about it at greater length by clicking here.