Lady Bird (2017)

Lady Bird will become a victim of its own success. Due to all of the hype surrounding this film during the awards season, it is difficult to be amazed by it when watching it for the first time. It is almost impossible to view a film with this much praise and not have high expectations, which are inevitably going to be dashed by an understated indie comedy-drama. This is definitely a well-observed and well-acted coming-of-age film, however, is it worth all of the excitement? It is difficult to get on board at first.

Yes, it is fantastic that a female has been nominated for best director for only the fifth time in the history of the Academy Awards, and Saoirse Ronan is wonderful in the titular role, but is this one of the best films of the year? Doubtful. Yet, on the positive side, this is more an issue with Hollywood and the Academy Awards as a whole rather than Greta Gerwig’s first solo outing as a director.

Christine, or Lady Bird as she prefers to be known (for reasons we never find out), is seventeen and living in Sacramento, California. She “lives on the wrong side of the tracks” both literally and figuratively, and craves escapism to a place with more culture - her plan being to apply to colleges in New York to get away from the town where everyone knows everyone. We see Lady Bird as she argues with her mother repeatedly, an amusing opening scene in a car where Lady Bird jumps out of the moving vehicle to escape her mother’s derogatory comments sets the tone of the film, she embarks on her first relationship, befriends the coolest girl in the school and takes part in the school play.

In true coming-of-age fashion Lady Bird goes on a journey and we are there with her through the ups and downs. Funny and moving, this is a charming film with a more realistic portrayal of youth and particularly a teenager’s complex relationship with her mother - a brilliantly observed scene in a thrift store where Lady Bird is trying to find a dress for Thanksgiving sees herself and her mother, played superbly by Laurie Metcalf, arguing one minute and then best friends the next as Marion finds her daughter a suitable dress. It is moments like this that really make this film.

Shot with a sense of naturalism, the film’s realism allows the focus to remain on the central characters and, if you do invest in these characters, Lady Bird is a rewarding and thought-provoking film that will make you want to phone your mum and tell her you love her.

Ignore the hype and make up your own mind. For me, the film beautifully meditates upon the idea of reality versus fantasy; how we can only truly value something once we don’t have it/aren’t there anymore.  

People should go and see this film, not because of the awards hype, but because this is what cinema can be for mainstream audiences too: a truthful, thought-provoking character study rather than a mundane, overproduced display of machismo.