But the whole film is so casual about all of it, and Swanberg, who seems more interested in finding the beauty in some of the images he frames (more so than he has in his other films), doesn't do much with the frame once he sets it up. Actors sit and talk within the frame, often in one long take, and the "event" of the scene, whatever it may be, starts to loosen, lose focus, fall apart. Many of these scenes feel like really productive rehearsals, improvisation exercises for the actors to find out their motivation and objective. But everyone sitting around talking doesn't lead us anywhere.
The film starts to feel opaque, hidden under a veil of its own casual attitude. And the final image, which is a stunner, doesn't open us up to deeper understanding. It just sits there, static, beautiful and not much else.