Andrew Bujalski
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Connections, in both directions
We first meet Lisa sitting in her car in the parking lot outside work, getting in a good, early morning weep before her long day begins, an introduction that instantly recalls the compressed crying fits of Holly Hunter’s Jane Craig in Broadcast News .
At its best the film is reminiscent of early Jonathan Demme and Barry Levinson’s workplace comedies like Diner and Tin Men.
This is not a new genre of film, having to some degree dominated "serious" American indie films in the last ten years or thereabouts (the prototypical film of the form, Funny Ha Ha , debuted in 2002 but wasn't widely seen until 2005), and Gerwig herself was first thrust to prominence as the title character in Hannah Takes the Stairs , directed by the artistically barren Joe Swanberg.
It may add a concrete end to the central narrative arcs by its inclusion, but its peripheral appearance as a source of conflict throughout doesn’t have the bite it needs; Edgar Wright’s The World’s End treaded similar water five years ago, and similarly to Support the Girls, its cultural critiques remained in the margins.
It's just that pictures like Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' "Little Miss Sunshine" or Jason Reitman's "Thank You for Smoking" or Andrew Bujalski's "Mutual Appreciation" spend more time winking at the audience than drawing it into any kind of conspiratorial intimacy.
Horrible Bosses (the title is a big giveaway) Set It Up, The Devil Wears Prada and The Proposal are just a few examples of the last few years - 'bad bosses' is a well understood trope which has been utilised by movies, almost well enough to spawn its own sub-genre.