Jessica James is a certified mess. A heart-rending breakup has reduced her to Instagram-stalking her ex and rebounding with an emotionally wrecked divorcee who is also groping for closure. A wall of theatre company rejection letters has her doubting her career as a playwright and lashing out at work, where she mentors kid dramaturges. And her younger sister – who, between her husband and Jessica’s own parents back in Ohio, would seem to have it all, is expecting. Barely 25, Jessica is convinced she’s missed her chance to “make it” and the idea that she could spend the rest of her life in this arrested stage of development haunts her as much as the idea of giving up and giving in to first world gender norms. It would all be so tragic if it weren’t so thoroughly relatable and risibly nostalgic.
Released on Netflix in 2017, The Incredible Jessica James is an exquisite coming-of-age dramedy – the brainchild of writer-director James Strouse. He not only taps into the insatiable sense of yearning that drove young creatives to pull up stakes for New York after the turn of the century, Strouse also hit a casting home run with Jessica Williams in the lead. Best known as one half of 2 Dope Queens and as a smart alecky Daily Show correspondent during the Jon Stewart years, Williams radiates with intoxicating, Frances Ha-level joy whether dancing on the rooftop of her Bushwick apartment, gushing about her love for theatre or dreaming about a falling piano crushing Damon – the puppy dog ex LaKeith Stanfield plays with hipster-y impotence.
