Lady Bird Review - An Ode To Many Things

I went with 4/5 for Lady Bird. Keep reading on to find out why this Oscar-nominated film was one of my favourites to watch!

Lady Bird is an unapologetically sorrowful film. Starring Saoirse Ronan as Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson, this here is one film that doesn’t make ‘coming of age’ seem cliched or derogatory. That is a testament to the snappy writing by writer-director Greta Gerwig. The film follows Christine in a Catholic school (which her mother has put her in because she’s heard of people getting knifed in public school) and the trials and tribulations she faces. Unlike other films set in and around Sunday/Catholic/Christian schooling, this here is not a story about one outcast who doesn’t fit in with the rest of the bible thumpers. This is about a group of outcasts that weave the social fabric of the school.

This is why Lady Bird will stay with you longer than most of those films. This here is not a remarkable film by any standard. Gerwig loses her grip on the story sometimes and while Saoirse Ronan puts up a stellar performance as the titular character, it’s hard to like somebody so irrational and full of hate. Instead, what it is is a different film. One that the audience needed to see. Gerwig openly tackles things such as homosexuality, masturbation and premarital sex - and what is amazing about that is that these issues have nothing to do with Lady Bird at all.

Had the film stayed with only Ronan’s character, Lady Bird would’ve been a much poorer film. Instead, we witness the layers that constitute this ‘wrong side of the tracks’ (self-proclaimed by Lady Bird) family. Laurie Metcalf as Marion McPherson, the tough but eventually heartwarming matriarch of the family, is pitch perfect. Laurie has a special talent that you rarely see in films - she can be the rudest, toughest person but ultimately even through her flaws - you are rooting for her. And that’s perhaps the analogy to summarise Lady Bird with.

Director Greta Gerwig may have made an imperfect film, but her jump cuts, tight edits and short runtime make up for its flaws. Lady Bird is an ode to many things - to the pure relationship between a mother and her daughter, grounded in realism, it is also a quiet ode to the misrepresented Catholic school and an ode to the town of Sacramento. Gerwig with her cinematographer, Sam Levy, shoot the ordinary town with a fresh energy and love for it.

The film’s beginning half and hour is lovely. Gerwig introduces us to each character as if they’re all leads. We delve into the emotional heartstrings that make up this rather broken and frayed town. The end of Lady Bird made me cry. Its last half an hour had a sense of realism that I missed from cinema and included a groundbreaking act from Laurie Metcalf. It is however, the middle portion of the 93 minute running movie that lost me. Gerwig gets tangled in her own plot and takes her own sweet time to get to the climax. It is perhaps this part where she lost me and stopped me from giving Lady Bird 4.5 out of 5. There are unneeded angles thrown into an already overpacked story, including a weird love angle only saved by Timothee Chalamet’s performance as Kyle.

A dark comedy, Lady Bird’s best performances are from Laurie Metcalf, Beanie Feldstein, Tracy Letts and Timothee Chalamet (stay tuned for the Call Me By Your Name review). But ultimately, the show is run by Saoirse and her show stopping performance as the irrational and unreasonable titular character. It’s rooted in this sense of realism that connects with everybody, irrespective of where you’re from. Lady Bird in the end is a stellar that due to its short runtime, I would watch again to feel good. I can’t remember the last time I felt so good about a young talent like Saoirse Ronan - I can’t wait to see what she does next.

I’m going with 4 stars out of 5 for Lady Bird. It brings new meaning to teenagers and their tumultuous lives.