Who put the ha in hahahaha? FRANCES HA, that’s who.This teeth stroking, funny bone fondling film is the creation of writer actress Greta Gerwig and writer director Noah Baumbach.

They worked together before on the horribly underrated GREENBERG whose similarity with SILVER LIVINGS PLAYBOOK makes the latter pale in comparison.

Their latest coupling brings us Frances, played with gargantuan charm by Gerwig, a girl from Sacramento who lives in New York.  Frances is an apprentice for a dance company, but her feet are defeating her. Frances has a best friend named Sophie, but they aren’t really speaking anymore, since Sophie has escalated the social ladder and moved in with a bloke, leaving Frances in lease limbo. Frances throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as their possible reality dwindles. Frances wants so much more than she has, but lives her life with unaccountable joy and lightness.

Indeed, this movie could have been called the Bearable Lightness of Being, if it wasn’t for the delicious dénouement that clues us in on the title.

There’s just so much to savour in this gorgeous picture – its characters certainly, and the situations and the comment the narrative delivers on aspirations, friends, families (Gerwig’s parents play Frances’ parents in a neat bit of nepotism), sex, and socio economics.

Director of Photography Sam Levy has captured New York in breathtaking black and white, reminiscent of Woody Allen’s Manhattan with production designer Sam Lisenco complimenting the terrific look of the film.

An eclectic soundtrack spearheaded by David Bowie’s Modern Love, gives the film a aural energy that’s as infectious as Gerwig and her cast mates winning characterisations.

FRANCES HA is a film about real people, devoid of clichés and stereotypes, and at 86 minutes it never comes close to outstaying its welcome.  A hardy Ha Ha.