Review of Lady Bird (2017) by Marco F — 14 Feb 2018

LADY BIRD is a case study in authenticity. No better film has been made about teenagers and teenage angst- not even REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE- and I really do mean that. I will be hard-pressed to find a better film than this that will be released in 2017. What an amazing directorial debut for Greta Gerwig- I can't wait for her next film. She has complete control over this film and infuses it with incredible energy.

LADY BIRD is about a restless high school senior who, over the course of her final grade school year deals with the trials and tribulations of potentially upcoming change- meaning seperating from her comfort zone- her northern Californian home town of Sacramento (the state's capital). Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson, like her mother has a very strong personality. Coming from a low-to-medium income family in expensive, insulated California, she has a lot to prove and has a rather inflated opinion of herself- even for a teenager. She is ambitious and restless, but somewhat confused; and has no real idea of what she wants to do. She just wants to get away from her "humdrum" life in Sacramento and experience something new. She's ready to get out into the world. That is probably the single best written teenage character I've ever seen in any movie- that is what teenagers are really like. I cannot recall a single film that has a more interesting menagerie of teenage characters- Lady Bird's friends, boyfriends and other peers are all surprisingly interesting people. They all talk and act like real people, and the situations are all real. This is great, fulfilling writing.

Even family life for Christine is compelling. Her mother, Marion is very tough on her only daughter. You see them arguing, then the very next moment you see them being nice to each other and the very next moment, something else between them happens. Thanks to their strong personalities, they do not have the best relationship but it is obvious they love each other, no matter how much antagonism they have towards each other. These are living, breathing characters.

But perhaps the strongest aspect of this film are the two leading performances done by Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf as the titular character and her mother, respectively. Ronan and Metcalf will be front-runners for the Leading and Supporting Actress Oscars- mark my words. But quite honestly, Ronan is the star here. There are so few- if any false notes in her performance- and in film, acting jobs that good are rare. I had seen her before in a number of other films and she was known, of course- but after seeing this, I am convinced that she will be one of the best actors of my generation. Needless to say, I have become a dedicated fan of Ms. Ronan's.

I can't speak for other people, but some of the best kinds of films are those that you don't want to end. LADY BIRD is one of those films. I am certain I have never enjoyed watching a film about adolescence more than this one. It will go down as one of the all-time great films about adolescence during high school- a timeless classic, a masterpiece, in every sense of both those words.