• Review Index
  • About Me
  • Suggestions

vinnieh

~ Movie reviews and anything else that comes to mind

vinnieh

Tag Archives: Lucas Hedges

Lady Bird

28 Saturday Dec 2019

Posted by vinnieh in Movie Reviews

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

2010's, Beanie Feldstein, Comedy, Coming-of-Age, Drama, Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird, Laurie Metcalf, Lucas Hedges, Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet, Tracy Letts

Greta Gerwig makes her solo directing debut with Lady Bird; a funny, sometimes painfully honest but incredibly personal story of a teenage girl coming of age in her senior year of school. Her vision is aided by two sensational performances by Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf as the mother and daughter at the heart of a tumultuous relationship.

It’s 2002 in Sacramento, California. Here we meet Christine McPherson( Saoirse Ronan), a teenager in her senior year of school. She attends a strict Catholic school, despite the fact her parents are struggling financially. She also goes by the name Lady Bird in an effort to stand out from what she sees as a boring place of no culture or event of note. Her opposition frequently clashes with her hardworking mother Marian( Laurie Metcalf), which results in bust ups throughout the year. Marion is a nurse who works doubles to support the family as her genial husband Larry( Tracy Letts) has been laid off and often tells Lady Bird that she is aspiring for too much. Both are at loggerheads and then fine, followed by more arguing that ebbs and flows. Meanwhile, Lady Bird, who knows she is distinctly average at a lot of things but isn’t short on ambition, has to find her way through the last year of school. which includes taking part in the school play, falling for two different guys in the form of Danny (Lucas Hedges) and sardonic, cool guy Kyle ( Timothée Chalamet), finding trouble with her best friend Julie( Beanie Feldstein) and generally feeling like everyone is somehow against her dreams . At the centre of it all, her relationship with her mother takes twists and turns as they attempt some form of understanding.

While Lady Bird does observe conventions of standard coming of age movies( boys, falling out with friends and rebellion), but there is something in the way that the story is told that makes it feel fresh. The personal undertone that the passionate Gerwig has infused the film with really stands out and captures that awkward time in someone’s life where everything feels like life or death. So while it isn’t an original or full on groundbreaking film, the approach taken and blend of comedy and drama is to be applauded for pulling us in and how it has us laughing one minute and emotional the next. Many scenes illustrate this bit the opening of Lady Bird and her mother going from niceness to bickering in minutes, along with the former throwing herself out of the car so she doesn’t have to listen to disagreement, clearly sums up the kind of film this is. Also, the pink cast Lady Bird wears for most of the film is an apt bit of symbolism that clearly displays our heroine’s desire to be an individual at any cost.

Lady Bird manages to avoid the cloying nature that often saturates a coming of age story to the point of mawkishness and steers clear of being melodramatic. Sure quite a bit happens to the titular character over a year, but it’s shown in such an organic yet warm way that tempers events with seriousness and comedy. I’m a fan of coming of age stories when told with substance and style and Lady Bird owns both of those admirable qualities. There will still be those who will write of Lady Bird as just another teenage comedy drama and not give it a chance. But I think they are really missing out on an often hilarious yet deeply effective evocation of a young girl turning into a woman who wants something out of the world to happen to her. The gold hues of the cinematography, coupled with the use of montage and choice of music, are gorgeously used to create a definite feeling of looking back on memories.

Now on to the acting in this teenage comedy drama and it’s clear to see that it’s one of the best things in Lady Bird’s impressive arsenal. In the lead, the always talented and confident Saoirse Ronan excels stunningly. Those blue peepers and arresting face chart the varying contradictions of Lady Bird as she faces adolescence and how she views it as an existence sent to test her. She’s restless, petulant, dramatic, funny, whacky, caring and acerbic. I’m simply running out of adjectives to describe Ronan here, she is that good at imbuing they part with bite. Ronan makes for a memorably flawed but endearing heroine, even when she’s being unpleasant. It’s the definition of a complete performance that just ticks all the right boxes and Saoirse Ronan owns the role with every fibre of her being. For an actress still so young, I’ve a feeling that she’s becoming one of the finest actresses of her generation and that’s not an exaggeration. Laurie Metcalf superbly supports Ronan with her work portraying a no-nonsense mother who as someone else mentions is as loving as she is frightening. Metcalf supplies the story with a serious undertone but isn’t above humour. Simply stated, she’s remarkable as an opinionated, careworn woman trying to raise a daughter who insists on creating difficulty for her. Ronan and Metcalf are magnetic together; both characters won’t admit it but they do share similarities that they would much rather not. This sets the scene for much drama between them. Beanie Feldstein is an absolute delight as the best friend who is so endearing that you want to give her a hug. The way Feldstein plays her shows that she’s truly alive in her best friend’s company and it’s what gets her through her low self-worth. Tracy Letts is quietly and subtly convincing as the protagonist’s father who is the good cop to his wife’s bad cop. Letts infuses him with a warmth but a big level of sadness as this character is unfortunate but doesn’t make a fuss. He is very moving in his work and his scenes with Saoirse Ronan are a delight. Lucas Hedges and Timothée Chalamet play the two main boys in Lady Bird’s life with energy and awkwardness for the former and scowling but charming rock dude for the latter. I liked both parts from these actors as they had more to them than just the boys the heroine likes, particularly Hedges and his story though Chalamet is no slouch either, far from it in fact. 

Hilarious yet deep, stylish but buttressed by story, Lady Bird is a marvellous solo debut for Greta Gerwig that soars owing to its direction, script and two deservedly Oscar nominated performances at the centre of it.

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Archives

  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012

Categories

  • 007 thoughts and reviews
  • Adventures of Satrap
  • Announcements
  • Awards and Achievements
  • Birthdays and Tributes
  • Blogging Community
  • Blogging Questions
  • Creepy
  • Gif Posts
  • Humour
  • Movie and Television Trivia
  • Movie opinions and thoughts
  • Movie Reviews
  • Music reviews and opinions
  • Photography Discussion
  • Rest In Peace
  • Sport
  • Television Opinions
  • Television Reviews
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
August 2022
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  
« Jul    

Tags

007 1940's 1950's 1960's 1970's 1980's 1990's 2000's 2010's Action Adventure Announcement Based on a true story Bernard Lee Bette Davis Birthday Blogs You Should Follow Cate Blanchett Comedy Crime Desmond Llewelyn Disney Drama Fantasy Foreign Language Film Gillian Anderson Halle Berry Happy Birthday Horror James Bond Judi Dench Julianne Moore Julia Roberts Liebster Award Lois Maxwell Madonna Maggie Smith Matthew Fox Meryl Streep Music Musical Mystery Natalie Portman Neve Campbell Period Drama Psychological Horror Psychological Thriller Rest In Peace Romance Romantic Comedy Science Fiction Spy Supernatural Horror Thriller

Top Posts & Pages

The Railway Children
Desperate Housewives Season 4
Lyric Analysis - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Kylie Minogue: Where the Wild Roses Grow
Henry and June
Desperate Housewives Season 3
The Godfather Part II
What Is Your Opinion on Nudism?
The Godfather Part III
Who Is Your Favourite Character in The Godfather Trilogy?
Lost in Translation
Follow vinnieh on WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • vinnieh
    • Join 3,764 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • vinnieh
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...