Beeswax

2009 Comedy Drama

In this typically low-key comedy drama from independent writer/director Andrew Bujalski, Jeannie (Tilly Hatcher) and Lauren (Maggie Hatcher) are a pair of twin sisters living in Austin, TX, who are close without having much in common. Jeannie, who is confined to a wheelchair, runs a well-established vintage clothing store called Storyville with her longtime friend Amanda (Anne Dodge), while Lauren drifts from job to job and is pondering an offer to teach English in Kenya. Jeannie and Amanda have had a falling out and Jeannie is worried about her stake in the business, especially since the original partnership agreements were drawn up by Amanda's father. When Amanda suggests she may take legal action to take full control of Storyville, Jeannie decides she needs legal advice and turns to Merrill (Alex Karpovsky), a former boyfriend who has almost completed his law degree. Merrill is feeling frazzled as he tries to pass the bar exam and he welcomes the distraction, but it isn't long before he forgets one of the first rules of legal ethics and begins sleeping with Jeannie. Lauren, meanwhile, wants to be of assistance to her sister, but she gets roped into helping her mother with her myriad problems while trying to make sense of her own future. Beeswax was an official selection at the 2009 South by Southwest Film Festival. more..

Director: Andrew Bujalski

Starring: Tilly Hatcher, Maggie Hatcher,Alex Karpovsky, Anne Dodge, Katy O'Connor

Reviews

  • Beeswax, at first glance a modest, ragged slice of contemporary life, turns out to be a remarkably subtle, even elegant movie.

    A.O. Scott - The New York Times

    29 November 2012

  • Bujalski has a serious talent for finding resonance in the mundane.

    Walter Addiego - The San Francisco Chronicle

    29 November 2012

  • It all feels studiously artless - some people huffily insist that Bujalski's movies aren't movies at all - but the more you contemplate his landscapes, the more his control over their various elements is revealed. He's the real deal: a maturing artist obsessed with how and why - and if - his generation will mature.

    Ty Burr - The Boston Globe

    29 November 2012

  • As Mark Twain didn't say, reports of the death of mumblecore are greatly exaggerated. As proof, I offer Andrew Bujalski's wise and wondrous Beeswax.

    V.A. Musetto - New York Post

    29 November 2012

  • Beeswax has a rhythmic quality, and it eschews conventional plotting for sharp observation of human strengths and foibles.

    Kevin Thomas - Los Angeles Times

    29 November 2012

Awards

  • Dia Sokol Savage

    Independent Spirit Awards (2010)