A coming-of-age story involving Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) and her mother Marion (Laurie Metcalf), this film is competent and charming but not earth-shatteringly good. It’s narrow in its scope – which is perfectly fine, especially for a directorial debut – and chronicles the final year of secondary school of a girl growing up in the California capital of Sacramento.
A bright, misunderstood, and inventive teenager who is surrounded by people who disappoint her, Lady Bird goes to a private Catholic school though her parents are not wealthy. I’m not sure about the significance in the US of this combination of factors, so I can’t really comment on what they are supposed to mean for the viewer, but it’s clear that Marion and Larry (Tracy Letts) believe in education as a means for achieving agency. They’re not happy, for example, when Lady Bird gets into trouble on account of a sharp comment she makes about abortion.
As Lady Bird begins to find her way in the world she makes mistakes. The editing for this film is done in sharp, sudden cuts that serve to keep up the pace, to diffuse anxiety, so as well as keeping dullness at bay they maintain a lightness that matches the film’s gentle humour. Watching it there’s never really enough time for either boredom or worry to develop in the viewer’s mind.
The secondary characters are nicely put together by Gerwig, who wrote the screenplay as well as directing. Odeya Rush is good as the vapid but smart Jenna and Timothée Chalamet is good as the slightly obnoxious and very self-confident Kyle. If more toxic, these two characters would have been less interesting. Sentimental thrills await anyone who puts the time in to watch this 90-minute film, and so I recommend it with the reservations already noted.
A bright, misunderstood, and inventive teenager who is surrounded by people who disappoint her, Lady Bird goes to a private Catholic school though her parents are not wealthy. I’m not sure about the significance in the US of this combination of factors, so I can’t really comment on what they are supposed to mean for the viewer, but it’s clear that Marion and Larry (Tracy Letts) believe in education as a means for achieving agency. They’re not happy, for example, when Lady Bird gets into trouble on account of a sharp comment she makes about abortion.
As Lady Bird begins to find her way in the world she makes mistakes. The editing for this film is done in sharp, sudden cuts that serve to keep up the pace, to diffuse anxiety, so as well as keeping dullness at bay they maintain a lightness that matches the film’s gentle humour. Watching it there’s never really enough time for either boredom or worry to develop in the viewer’s mind.
The secondary characters are nicely put together by Gerwig, who wrote the screenplay as well as directing. Odeya Rush is good as the vapid but smart Jenna and Timothée Chalamet is good as the slightly obnoxious and very self-confident Kyle. If more toxic, these two characters would have been less interesting. Sentimental thrills await anyone who puts the time in to watch this 90-minute film, and so I recommend it with the reservations already noted.
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