ALERT VIEWERHannah Takes the Stairs: Drama. Starring Greta Gerwig, Andrew Bujalski, Kent Osborne, Mark Duplass. Directed by Joe Swanberg. (Not rated. 83 minutes. At the Red Vic.)

There is a movement in independent filmmaking called mumblecore, super-low-budget movies, mostly plotless, filled with self-absorbed people in their 20s trying to find meaning in their lives. "Ramblecore" might have been a better nickname. It was so underground that at one time, the Sundance Film Festival usually rejected the films - they were instead championed by the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.

Now the films have such a cult following that the IFC Film Center in New York recently held a 10-film retrospective.

The movement's latest film, "Hannah Takes the Stairs," opened Thursday for a week at the Red Vic, the venerable Haight art house that's perfect for this fare. Unfortunately, though it has merit and is recommended for the curious and adventurous, Joe Swanberg's film wears out its welcome about halfway through its 83 minutes. I'd say it doesn't go anywhere, but that's the point of these movies.

Hannah (Greta Gerwig) works in a place that might be a film production office or an Internet startup (everyone either lounges around or busily tap on laptops). At the beginning of the film, she is dating Mike (Mark Duplass, of the mumblecore favorite "The Puffy Chair"), but he quickly falls off the grid by quitting his job ("I've upgraded," he says. "I had a job and quit; now I don't have a job.") He thens dumps her because "you want to break up with me and you can't do it."

He's probably right about that. But Hannah hardly seems liberated by her new freedom and instead starts a relationship with a geek in her office, Paul (Andrew Bujalski, director of the two best mumblecores I've seen, "Funny Ha Ha" and "Mutual Appreciation"). Paul is rather creepy, apt to drop down and literally kiss her feet, or ask for a kiss and when he gets one, whine that "it was an aggressive one. I wanted a soft, tender one."

Eventually, she is practically driven into the arms of another co-worker, Matt (Kent Osborne of TBS' "Movie Lounge").

Hannah's emotional roller coaster is something we can all identify with, and Gerwig gives her a heart and soul, if a few too many quirks.

-- Advisory: This film contains nudity and strong language.