Review of Beginners (2011) by Daniel P — 08 Mar 2013

For a film so considered and cloistered, this one was strangely breathless, and impossible to turn away from, showing something new from scene to scene that kept you watching and kept subtly raising the ante.

Ewan McGregor's an old favourite of mine, and Mélanie Laurent's a new one, so I may have been pre-disposed to really enjoy this film. That said, it earned Christopher Plummer his long overdue Oscar, and really balanced its three characters' stories well - without drowning the viewer in sentiment, which is an accomplishment given the subject matter (family relationships, dying, coming out, a tentatively hip new love).

The kind of film I'm not used to seeing, a breath of fresh air in a lot of ways. Quiet classic.