Review of Lady Bird (2017) by Grant S — 29 Jun 2018

Sweet, funny, emotional movie.

Sacramento, 2002. Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson is in her final year of high school. She longs to leave Sacramento and go to college on the East Coast. However, her protective, obsessive mother, pessimistic at her chances, is determined to keep her in California, and ideally nearby to home. Lady Bird's final year of school will be one of discovery, new experiences and finding herself.

Sweet, emotional movie, dealing with change, growing up and figuring out who you are. It also deals with parent-child relationships and how these shape us, and how the other party's intentions and motives are often misunderstood.

Takes a while to find its focus though. While you figure the movie is a coming-of-age sort of thing, for the most part it feels like it is drifting. Not that this is boring - writer-director Greta Gerwig fills these scenes with humour and many relatable and engaging events. It is more like there wasn't an obvious point to all this.

The last few scenes more than make up for this, as everything comes together in profound, emotional fashion.

Great performances by Saoirse Ronan as Lady Bird and Laurie Metcalf as her mother. Both received Oscar nominations. Greta Gerwig received a Best Director nomination and a Best Original Screenplay nomination while the movie was nominated for Best Picture.