Lady Bird

Greta Gerwig has been an "it" girl on the indie scene for several years. It may be a bit ironic that her most acclaimed movie would come when she stepped behind the camera with LADY BIRD (she previously co-directed NIGHTS & WEEKENDS, and co-starred as well). Here, Saorise Ronan is the stand-in Gerwig as a character named Christine, who like the real Gerwig, is a rebellious teen in Sacramento California who dreams of New York City. Christine has re-dubbed herself "Lady Bird" and is going to a Catholic High School and is going through all the usual growing pains. Grewig has made a name for herself with her quirky characters and there's more than a bit of that to wade through here. It takes some time to get past the notion that Ronan is giving her own performance here and not just doing a Greta act (similar to many a Woody Allen lead performance by 'substitute' Woodys). As fiercely individualistic as Gerwig is as an actress, Ronan gives Lady Bird a bit of a softer and more vulnerable side that is more effective than if Gerwig had performed it herself. Kudos to her for embracing it. Most importantly, Gerwig does an excellent job at keeping the movie rolling along at a brisk 93 minutes, with some scenes being literally seconds long - nothing self-indulgent here (although there is a scene or two that could have been allowed to breathe a bit). The cast, including several young actors is uniformly fine. Laurie Metcalf as her tough mother could have used a little leavening. As written and performed, she comes off a bigger harridan than is what was likely intended. Some of the offbeat mumblecore touches stick out as unnecessary, but, what separates LADY BIRD from so many of them (including, frankly, a number of Gerwig's movies), is that there is genuine heart and compassion here, not just ironic detachment. Further grounding things is a keen appreciation of middle class life with the scenes of shopping at thrift stores, window browsing for homes they can't afford etc. - or, as Lady Bird sardonically refers to it: "Coming from the wrong side of the tracks." Credit, too, for not ending in the conventionally expected way. Just a warm sigh.

Lady Bird. Superbly acted coming of age film about a stroppy 17/18 year old girl and her relationships with boys, friends, family and especially her mother. Told in a series of vignettes which could've been exasperating/dull in less safe hands than first time (I think) director greta gerwig. We saw it on Mother's Day and was nice to see lots of mums and daughters watching together. Well worth a watch though if you've neither been a mother or a daughter..... 7 and a half out of ten