Lady Bird – 2017
This was a simple and fairly predictable movie, that was nonetheless expertly acted, and mildly interesting to watch. It was directed by first time director, Greta Gerwig. It starred the young Irish actress, Saoirse (pronounced SERSHA) Ronan as the title character, Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson. It is a name she has given herself as a kind of act of rebellion. She is a teenager living in Sacramento, California with her mother, Marion, played by Laurie Metcalf, her father, Larry, played by Tracy Letts, and her brother Miguel, played by Jordan Rodriguez.
It is a coming of age film that centers around Lady Bird’s relationship with her mother. When I did my reading on the film, it seems that most of the critics really focused on the wonderful performances by Ronan and Metcalf, and I really have to agree. But between the two, I think Metcalf shined just a little bit brighter. They were both amazing, and had a great on-screen chemistry, but Metcalf’s performance seemed a little more polished, a little more weighty.
Like most coming of age films, the narrative was really a collection of isolated episodes, strung together almost like beads on a necklace. Lady Bird is a very typical teenager. As such, the experiences she has are ones that any normal American teen might have, so there wasn’t anything very unusual or exciting. In fact, that was part of the movie’s charm. It was somehow amazing in its normalness.
But unfortunately, in my eyes, it was also the film’s biggest flaw. The film, as a whole, was a little dull. Not much really happened. The drama never got too deep. The characters never achieved any kind of greatness, nor did they ever fall too far from grace. Now, I’ll be the first to admit, that wasn’t necessarily the fault of the movie. I just might not have been the intended target audience.
Based on my own limited experiences, I think that when it comes to familial relationships, the ones between mothers and daughters are often the most volatile. I’ve seen evidence of it on more than one occasion. Lady Bird and her mother clearly love each other, but they both have such strong personalities that all the little disagreements easily ramp up from zero to sixty without warning. But that being said, I keep thinking that these scenes of conflict never got too intense.
A connecting thread that runs through the movie is Lady Bird’s desire to get out of Sacramento and experience more of the world. She applies to colleges that are not in California. The problem is that the family is struggling financially. Like most teenagers, she is very self-centered, and has little concept of the struggles her parents endure to provide for the family. She tends to take her life and her parent’s for granted.
For me, the real crux of the problem between the two characters was spelled out pretty clearly in a scene where Lady Bird tells her mother she wishes that she liked her. Marion’s says that she loves her, but even when Lady Bird asks, “But do you like me?” she could not bring herself to tell her daughter that she liked her. It was a subtle distinction, but an important one that was central to the overall plot.
The climax of the movie comes when Marion learns that Lady Bird has applied for, and been accepted to a college in New York behind her back, though with Larry’s help, she has also applied for financial aid. A hurt Marion stops speaking to her daughter. Lady Bird goes to New York, still on bad terms with her mother. She begins using her given name of Christine again. She goes to a party and gets so drunk that she is hospitalized. When she wakes, she calls her mother and leaves a message, saying I love you and thank you. I guess this supposed to be the indication that she has grown as a person.
Other little episodes in Lady Bird’s senior year of High School included the ups and downs of her relationship with her best friend, Julie, played by Beanie Feldstein, her first boyfriend, Danny, played by Lucas Hedges, who turns out to be gay, and her second boyfriend, Kyle, played by Timoth?e Chalamet, who lies to her and takes her virginity. The problem with these multiple sub-plots is that they weren’t much more deep or creative than a dramatic TV sit-com episode. How many times and ways have we seen these scenarios played out? You know what would have made it seriously impactful? Maybe if there was a death or serious injury in the family, Lady Bird might have had some real drama to rattle her teen angst. But I get it. That wasn’t the movie they were trying to make.
I mean, what did I really get out of the film? At best, I got that even mothers and daughters who love each other fight a lot, and it is usually because the teenager is blindly inconsiderate, as many teens tend to be. Fortunately, they also tend to grow out of it. Realistic? Certainly. Interesting to watch? Not especially. But I suppose this film was worth watching at least once, if only to see Metcalf’s inspired performance. I’m not saying it was a bad movie, but I just don’t understand why it was considered good enough to be nominated for Best Picture.