A new indie dramedy about a 20-something in flux seems to peek its head out every week or so. There are some that are undoubtedly great and rise above, as in the case with last year's "Frances Ha," but with over-saturation, it just gets easier to forget and not necessarily to forgive. Much to my delight, however, Susanna Fogel's "Life Partners" is a small-scale and genuinely sweet comedy about two 20-something women and their platonic friendship.

Much like "Frances Ha," the film’s core is not necessarily on a singular character and her tribulations. It’s much more about female companionship that gives the film its beating heart. In this case, "Life Partners" is in the same vein of a romantic comedy that centers on Sasha (Leighton Meester, "Gossip Girl") and Paige (Gillian Jacobs, "Community").

Paige is an environmental lawyer who is more of a conventionalist while Sasha deems herself as a musician but works as a receptionist at a company where most of her co-workers dislike her. They’re the definition of the slightly silly acronym BFF – or Best Friends Forever in case you didn’t have a list of acronyms and their meanings next to you.

They’re so comfortable around each other that you’d think of them as obvious soul mates. They stage fake road rage confrontations by yelling "bitch" or "slut" at each other while they’re at a traffic light or inside of a parking garage, but then immediately make up by giving each other an approving smile. Later, they cozy up next to one another to watch "America’s Next Top Model" while drinking cheap wine and chatting away with a hint of attitude and a large display of comfort. 

Most importantly, they seem to make each other happy – no matter if their lives, especially their romantic lives, aren’t heading in the direction they want it to. When we first meet Paige and Sasha, they’re both on the verge of turning 29 years old and they’re each other’s only significant other but without the romantic significance, even though Paige lists Sasha as "husband" on her phone while Sasha lists Paige as "wife" on hers. It doesn’t seem like they have much time for anyone else, as if they were a married couple without the rings.

When they both decide to claim dates on the Internet, their experiences are much different. Sasha’s date with a deranged woman (SNL’s Kate McKinnon) who works for the reality show "To Catch A Predator" is short-lived, but hilariously and devastatingly awkward. Paige, however, hits it off with Tim (Adam Brody, "The O.C."), a geeky dermatologist who wears message t-shirts and who obsesses over "The Big Lebowski," quirks that the usually picky Paige greatly dislikes.

While Paige falls deeper into her relationship, Sasha finds herself in a pit of romantic and professional failure. Beyond the strings of flings with younger women who still live with their parents, her life starts to crumble around her. Her professional life as a receptionist seems to be going nowhere, while she finds it much easier to speed through a drive-through to indulge in late night mozzarella sticks than to kick-start her career as a singer/songwriter. It soon becomes obvious that the more distant Paige becomes, the more lost Sasha seems to be.

While many comedies that are about relationships tend to focus on not only bonding, but also dependency, they usually don’t bring anything new or compelling to the table. While some clichés can be found in "Life Partners," the film still manages to be surprisingly fresh and unsentimental while offering a take on female companionship that’s still quite hard to stumble upon for some asinine reason.

Also, for a film about two female BFFs who have different sexual orientations, the film also doesn’t fall into the wasteland of focusing on these differences. In fact, their sexual orientations hardly even matter in the bigger scope of things (as it should in real life). The film is essentially about how hard it is for anyone who has a troubling dating and/or professional life. Much of the reason why the film works is because it’s grounded in reality. The central friendship and characters with worries and concerns that many face in real life.

The film also wouldn’t have been successful without Leighton Meester and Gillian Jacobs, who own the movie with their fully realized performances. Meester in particular plays against type and gives a surprisingly striking performance as Sasha. It’s a role that would’ve been easy to be over the top, but Meester makes the screw-up Sasha relatable, likeable and compelling.

Jacobs is also impressive as Paige, a character who doesn’t always deserve sympathy. She inhabits the role with a dash of snarky, comical attitude. It doesn’t go without saying that their chemistry is undeniably engaging. From the opening scene to the very last, their friendship seems lived-in, as if they have actually been friends for most of their lives.

Another nice surprise was Adam Brody as Tim, who could have been written as the clichéd "villain" of sorts who got in the way of the central relationship. However, he’s an instantly likeable geeky guy who likes quoting movies, even if he’s around people who don’t quite get his references (I can definitely relate to his character for this very reason).

Although "Life Partners" definitely seems familiar at times, it’s ultimately the strength of the script, written by Fogel and her pal Joni Lefkowitz, as well as the performances and the understated directing that makes this little film stick out from the heaps of similar dramedies that have come before it. With large doses of humor and heart, this film would only be better to watch if you have a cheap bottle of wine and your BFF close by.

"Life Partners": *** 1/2