To See or Not to See: Lady Bird

Writer-director Greta Gerwig delivers a heartwarming, funny coming-of-age story with Lady Bird.

Christine (Saorise Ronan) is a senior in high school in Sacramento, attends a Catholic high school, has one (best) friend Julie (a delightful Beanie Feldstein), and dreams of going to college on the east coast. In the beginning of the film, we discover that she has re-named herself Lady Bird; it is one of the many ways in which she is experiencing a teenage rebellion.

Lady Bird goes through a lot of changes her senior year. She explores a very sweet romance with Danny (Lucas Hedges), a boy from the school play that she’s a part of; she also loses her virginity to Kyle, one of the cool kids (Timothée Chalamet); and she tries out new friendships with the popular crowd. There is one constant in her life, though: her parents. Her mother, Marion (Laurie Metcalf), works long hours at the hospital so the family can afford a decent middle class lifestyle in a town where most are wealthy and is constantly worried about finances. Her father, Larry (Tracy Letts), loses his job and struggles with depression, but secretly helps Lady Bird with her east coast dreams by filling out the financial aid paperwork she needs.

Aside from Lady Bird’s inner journey from impetuous, impulsive, and selfish to self-aware and full of gratitude, the heart of Lady Bird is the mother-daughter relationship. Saorise Ronan is wonderful (per usual), and her chemistry with Laurie Metcalf is incredibly authentic. Indeed, Metcalf gives a brilliant performance. Her Marion is tightly-wound and sparse with her affection yet she also is desperately trying to give her family as much as she possibly can.

The performances alone wouldn’t make this such a great film. The writing and directing of Great Gerwig plays a huge part. Gerwig has perfectly captured some universal feelings and experiences of being a teenage girl–the friendship ups-and-down, the push-and-pull with a mother, the desire to leave home, and the excitement of romance. The thing that she captures so wonderfully is the gratitude for the place and people you come from.

Lady Bird is a joyful, funny, universal film that should be on everyone’s must-see list.

 

★ ★ ★ ★ out of 4

Photo Credit: A24 Films