Review of Lady Bird (2017) by Adam J. P — 13 Dec 2017

"Don't you think they're the same thing? Love...and attention?" This is one of the countless wonderful lines in Gerwig's stunningly beautiful directorial debut Lady Bird, and it happens to perfectly encapsulate my feelings for the movie itself. A concise and encompassing capture of a high schoolers senior year, I consistently found it to be completely lovable...and at worst, comfortably enveloping. With a unique rhythm of ultra-authentic and calm-yet-rapid-fire rhythm, it's a near-perfect vision that soars at every angsty turn.

Like a lower-middle class Clueless, Lady Bird is the story of a teenage girl learning how to balance school, friends, work, college applications, boys, and family. But unlike Clueless, she doesn't benefit from trust-fund parents who can pay for her every whim. Ronan is great at the center of this world, both in the film and in her own head. However, Metcalf is the gem, playing the loving but familiarly flawed mom with an exactness and perfection rarely seen. These two strong women, and the surrounding cast, carry the entertaining and thoughtful dialogue beautifully ("Just because something looks ugly doesn't mean it's morally wrong"; "Different things can be sad...it's not all war!"; "You're not gonna get in a car with a guy that honks, are ya?).

Most impressive is how it so perfectly captures time: both the early 2000s era, and that specific time between childhood and adulthood. I, for one, painfully recognize myself in Lady Bird; the forced quirks, a desperation to be liked, overwhelming self-awareness, a longing to rebel against a desire to please parents. Unfortunately, our lives are rarely this funny, this moving or even this honest.