Lady Bird (2017)

Early in the film, the hero, Christine, or as she has dubbed herself, Lady Bird, states “I wish I could live through something.” While Greta Gerwig’s directorial effort is a fine film, I felt it should have “lived through” a little bit more.

This is a film, that while well directed, performed and written, still left me comparing it to other films of the ‘coming of age’ sub-genre that simply did it better. It brought up thoughts of films like Almost Famous, Rushmore, Garden State, Juno and Napoleon Dynamite that have all tackled the coming-of-age storyline and to greater effect. Then again, there are many that did far worse.

Saoirse Ronan is one of the finest young actors we have today. She was both endearing and distant at the same time, leaving us with the feeling that we may or may not know exactly what makes Lady Bird tick. Laurie Metcalf was a highlight of sorts. Her performance upgraded this film and I believe that she is one of the most underrated and underappreciated actresses around today.

I do feel that the Academy Award nominations the film has received are somewhat exaggerated, but a few are warranted. Ronan being nominated makes sense and Metcalf’s nomination, to me, is a must. I hope she wins, she is certainly deserving, though I haven’t seen all the other nominees’ performances yet. I may not be popular for admitting this, but I think the other nominations the film has received are far-fetched.

Now that I got all that out of my system, let me say that Lady Bird is still a well above average film, which is filled with capable performances and is a great directorial effort. It is one that I would recommend people watch and decide for themselves. 7/10 for me.