I really liked this film. It reminded of My So Called Life and other teen wreckage dramas that have been made. I saw it at the Regal Multiplex near where I live. I thought it was well written and directed. There weren't too many boring scenes. I did think it seemed to go on for a while without any direction. It wondered around directionless like it's lead character Lady Bird and so many teens who are trying to find there way in life without giving up too much. The big conflict in the film is Lady Bird graduating from Catholic High School and moving on to College and the promise of a better future. Along the way there are various subplots which are very focused on the experiences of a teenager. She finds a boyfriend who turns out to be gay. She finds another love who is too paranoid. Then she has a friendship with a rich girl that doesn't work out. Finally it is time to decide about College. Will she go the local state school near Sacramento? Or will she travel to the other side of the country and go to school in New York City? She eventually decides to go to the city. That's where the film ends. With Lady Bird in what appears to be the village, drinking too much and ending up in a hospital. In the last sequence she meets a boy, asks him if he believes in God, hooks up with him and ends up going into a Church. After Church she calls her parents and wants to talk to her mother. She gets the answering machine. I guess she is finally on her own. Alone in the city without any of her family around to take care of her.
Saorise Ronan does a great job as the confused, ambitious, and desperate teen Lady Bird. The emotions she evokes were genuine. It spoke to me. I started to remember my teenage years and compared my situation to hers. The depiction of class differences in High School brought out some uncomfortable situations. She was ashamed to be middle class and envies her classmates who are wealthy. Eventually she realizes she is not one of them and rejects their friendship. Then she reunites with her friend who is not perfect. It was this sequence where I started to detect some plot holes. Would her jilted friend take her back? Would Lady Bird really have the courage to dump her boyfriend and go back to the prom? I wondered that she might not. I guess that makes this film a courage film in some ways. Lady Bird summons the courage to make the right decision. To show empathy rather than be a phony and suck up to rich people. That was a great sequence in the film. I was so happy when she does it. I wish I had had the courage of Lady Bird to have empathy and not reject people because they aren't rich or fashion models.
I also found the world or atmosphere of the film very easy to identify with. It was so 90's. Lady Bird's dyed hair and her hemp necklace. The downsizing that affected her father. The fact that it seemed like all the adults had depression. The 9/11 attack, the War in Iraq, the gay kid who has trouble coming out, those were the issues that I remember being important during those years. I was in college during 9/11 and the war in Iraq. And the gay marriage debate was becoming more and more current in a public debate that would end in the Supreme Court recognizing the legality of same sex marriage. It made me recall those days when I was in my late teens and early twenties. How I moved to New York City. I also fought with my parents about my future. They didn't seem to understand. I was so stubborn. And wanted to live my life. I could really identify with Lady Bird in some ways. Still it is a movie and my life was never that great or complicated.
Great film.
No comments:
Post a Comment