A Movie Review: Lady Bird

Lady Bird. The year is 2002. Christine 'Lady Bird' McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) is a high school senior in Sacramento. She attends a Catholic school on scholarship. Most of her classmates come from well off families. She comes from a middle class family that is on the brink of economic chaos as her father becomes unemployed early in the movie. She has a best friend, Julie (Beanie Feldstein), and that's about it. She falls for a fellow senior, Danny O'Neill (Lucas Hedges). This opens the door to the wealthy side of the school and she slowly pushes aside her friend Julie for a new set of friends. Meanwhile, her relationship with her mother is falling apart as she feels this desire to leave Sacramento behind.

What I loved about 'Lady Bird' is that in its simplicity, it throws various curve balls at you.

'Lady Bird', herself, to me is a wonderful curve ball. When I first saw her on screen, I thought: she's going to want to be the next great writer or musician or actress. Just pick one. Yet, we learn that she really isn't all that talented in the arts. And she's not all that good at math. The one great thing, is that it doesn't take her long to realize that she's not the next John Steinbeck.

I love the parental relationships. Her relationship with her mother (Laurie Metcalf) is one filled with conflict. In many ways, her mother is unable to emotionally connect with her daughter. The emotional connection occurs between father (Tracy Letts) and daughter. Who knows, maybe it helped that the father was unemployed through much of the movie and had a lot more time for his daughter, but he definitely understood her better. He not only loved his daughter (which her mother did, as well), but also liked his daughter (an issue that perhaps could be questioned in relationship to the mother). It also seemed like the two parents showed their love via different means. The mother showed her love via service while the father showed his love via affirmation. At this moment in her life, it seemed like 'Lady Bird' needed affirmation, which might explain her closeness to her father during that time of her life.

I loved how it was revealed that her second boyfriend, Kyle (Timothee Chalamet), was just a bunch of hot air. He was constantly reading Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, yet there is a moment towards the end of the movie (that I won't give away, but you have to pay careful attention) where 'Lady Bird' realizes that he wasn't what he liked to portray himself as.

Of course, this being high school, it wasn't like 'Lady Bird' wasn't filled with a lot of hot air herself. Her explanation for her cigarette brand loyalty. Her deception over her family wealth.

So yes, what's so lovely about this movie is the simple tale of the final year in high school that is filled in with wonderful details.

Is this one of the best movies of the year? It is hard for me to say as I haven't seen many of the top Oscar contenders for Best Picture. I will say I have a soft spot for high school coming of age movies. And I will say, I'd love a sequel to see how things turn out for Christine during her freshman year of college.