Review of Lady Bird (2017) by Fursans — 10 Dec 2017
A coming to age story that seemed so familiar, felt so original in Greta Gerwig’s debut film as a solo screenwriter-director. This film has blown me away and might be the best film I have seen all year.
It is full of sincerity and wit that kept me laughing the whole way. Greta Gerwig has created characters that have never felt more real on the screen. The film’s focus is on the struggle between its two lead female roles, effortlessly acted by Saorise rose, who plays a 17 year old adolescent eagerly trying to escape her hometown of Sacramento, which she referred to in the film as “the Midwest of California”, and her strong willed mother Marian Mcpherson, played by Laurie Metcalf, a psychiatric nurse struggling to make ends meet amid economic hardships of the early 2000’s and after her husband, Larry Mcpherson, played by Tracy Letts, loses his job.
During her senior year at a private catholic high school, Soarise Rose’s character, Christine McPherson, who prefers to be called “Lady Bird”, yearns for new experiences as she continues to form new relationships and friendships throughout the film.
Her venturesome personality has overcome Christine’s will to find common ground with her mother, who is more of a realist and wants Christine to understand the poor financial situation her family is in and the obstacles present that prevent Christine from traveling away for college.
Her mother coldly pushes this mentality on her daughter, but fails to demoralize Christine from wanting more, and fighting, though not fully driven academically, to gain admission and financial aid to attend an east coast university, where she might “find more culture”, through the assistance of her clinically depressed father who is more sympathetic of Christine’s ambitions.
Soarise Rose’s character is a great depiction of the compulsive and pleasure-chasing mind of an adolescent that will have you feeling nostalgic and emotionally attached. Nothing about these characters are cliche.
Their dynamic personalities, perfectly portrayed on screen, will have you anxiously wanting to continue following the rest of their stories.
This review of Lady Bird (2017) was written by Fursans on 10 Dec 2017.
Lady Bird has generally received very positive reviews.
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