Review of Lady Bird (2017) by Ali L — 03 Jan 2018

I lived in Sacramento from 1999-2003. I lived around the corner from Gunther's, drank coffee at New Helvetia and saw Dave Matthews at the Sac Valley Ampitheatre in 2001. The whole time I lived there I was waiting to move somewhere...I left in October 2003 and didn't think much about what I left behind, until this movie.

I knew it would be a scrapbook off my days there, but had no idea how perfectly accurate it would be. I found myself explaining the 'Fab 40s', why they couldn't go to Granite Bay for lunch, the signicance of the East Sac Pavillions. It magnified the day I spent on the couch on 9/11, trying to understand what it really meant. It may be an excellent portrayal of an early 2000s mother/daughter relationship, of a fearless but uncertain woman trying to find her way, but the attention to detail and accuracy of what it was like to live and find your way in SacTown before cell phones, Uber, and constant connection is astounding.

A must see no matter where you lived; for me, a feeling like someone made part of your life a blockbuster movie and did it so well you were re-living part of a life you thought you left behind.

Ladybird is everything all at once - Saoirse Ronan is Sacramento in 2002.

And someday take your first dive around Sacramento. It's not the place you thought is is.