Lady Bird - DVD

The performances are rich and engaging. I can watch Ms. Ronan in anything. Her initial musical audition is classic. The cinematographer achieves an ambitious palette, the sort all too often ignored in indy work, which is unfairly considered light on a cinema-level, perhaps because there are few explosions to admire. The look according to helmer Greta Gerwig mimics the fabric of memory -- now that is ambition I admire -- with a washed-off, remote, nonetheless color-saturated texture influenced by period specific "fanzines" pressed-off at Kinko's in those sweet days. It was also nice to see Sacremento photographed with love for a change, in a way that suggests all life does not die outside of NYC and LA, the problem of entirely too many films. These extra touches make the piece shine. Still, in watching it, with the realization that "The Breakfast Club" has now been collected by the Criterion Collection, (good for them for understanding film; even Eric Rohmer's "Pauline at the Beach" is merely a beach tale. I could not help but consider how a work, such as "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (consider the slowed-down art museum sequence) would have been a Best Picture / Director nominee today, now that American film is starting to better understand cinema. This, too, seems doubly the case when one considers Cameron's meltdown in the John Hughes work. Even "Some Kind of Wonderful" and "Lucas" wear well with age, especially now that multiplexes are dominated by the inane. This film is great. Do not get me wrong. And while standing beside those earlier giants alone bodes well. But I cannot give it a mere four stars for not living up to prior classics, or even the greater Gerwig-penned work, "Frances Ha," or "Miss America," both of which I adore - ADORE. I cannot take away a star, especially in today's film atmosphere, so saturated with spectacle over character. There is something intentionally minor about the work which could, at points, swing for the fences just a bit more, as in the sequence near the close of the film in which Lady Bird visits a church and re-adopts her name - on her terms. BRAVO.

I enjoyed this movie, im 21 and saw some similarities with my own life as a teenager. This is a story about a young teenager thats goes by Ladybird, shes trying to go through life, new experiences, trying to create independence for herself while her mother stills has the strings to pull emotional manipulative behavior over and over again on her daughter, and eventually her daughters behavior as a teen comes out in big growth steps for ladybird, but the way ladybird makes decisions is based off fantasy and idealization as well as the escapism of going to college in a big "wonderful" city and this mainly because her mother doesnt feel like home to her and doesn't give ladybird the support she needs. I think quite a lot of people were disappointed on how spot on this movie showed an abusive narcissistic relationship between the mother and daughter, where the mother is constantly passive-aggressive, manipulative, and emotionally abusive to her daughter. Now if you pay attention to these small details you'll realize why her mother is the way she is, and this is because the mother had an abusive alcoholic mother. Pay attention you will realize alcohol is very common and symbolic within this movie, you'll notice the daughter eventually drinks more as her mother becomes more like the abusive mother she had, passing it down to ladybird. Interesting enough I noticed many reviewers were disappointed in this movie because they said the teenager is "self-entitled, selfish, and disrespectful towards her mother, which is exactly what someone would say when they have normalized manipulative behavior which says something very clearly that the viewers side with an emotionally abusive mother, which blatantly shows how brainwashed people have become by their parents control issues and manipulative behavior masked as "warm" and they just "cares deeply" you will notice these were words used by Lady bird to save her emotionally manipulative mother at times because she is "soft" at the times when it only meets her emotional needs and not ladybirds needs from a motherly figure. Ladybird has no other natural way to be in her situation then exactly the way she is in this movie, in fact is was beautifully spot on. If you think that the mother's behavior towards her daughter and her husband is acceptable well to break it to you, you had narcissistic manipulative a parent/parents. I almost gave this 4 stars instead of 5 at first because of the way it ended, I "fantasized" for closure and an apology from the mother in person, but at the same time this movie is REALISTIC and there's much work to be done within the mother to heal and for the daughter to heal and for ladybird to set healthy boundaries with her mother with time and usually that doesnt just happen at 18 years old.

I LOVED this movie. If you want a feel-good movie done by incredible actors, give this one a try. I have probably watched it 10 times. The characters are so well developed, and the story is beautiful

My rating is more of a 3.5 Thank you for reading Lady Bird is a 2017 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Greta Gerwig in her solo directorial debut. The cast includes Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges, Timothée Chalamet, Beanie Feldstein, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Lois Smith. Set in Sacramento, California, between the fall of 2002 and the summer of 2003, it is a coming-of-age story of a high school senior and her strained relationship with her mother. As someone that isn’t a huge fan of coming-of-age films I was pleasantly surprised by how easy this one is to enjoy; the simplicity of the plot compliments the tone embraced by Gerwig’s directing style, and is one that most - if not all audience members - can easily relate to without strain or an inflated sense of imagination. There’s nothing new about the plot of this film when you start stipping the meat off of it: Daughter despises parents. Daughter is in her senior year of high school. Daughter has aspirations that **happen** to physically separate her from the environment she is currently in. Regardless, ‘Lady Bird’ grounds itself through characters that are authentically flawed and unapologetically jagged; the awkward manner in which Christine explores her identity and comes to terms with her reality is wholesomely transparent and ultimately feels natural. if one accepts this as an average coming-of-age film then it's easy to watch without much criticism; however, what I expected this movie to be and what it ended up turning into are seemingly separate entities from one another. The trailer and description sell this film as having the relationship between ‘Lady Bird’ and her mom at the center, but it would be fair to call this false advertising. For one, there is a never-ending integration of pressures that Christine is dealing with that act as points of contention in this film such as trying to get into college, dealing with some amount of peer pressure, exploring the expectations (sometimes sexual) of intimate relationships…….I think you get the point. This is certainly a responsible and respectful representation of the totality of this experience of being on the edge of Independence with so much still left to learn, but this makes the relationship she has with her mom seem like a part of her life that is easily forgotten about or ignored. At the end of the day, it is just particularly hard to discern how much of an influence this relationship with her mom has on the decisions the primary character ultimately makes. Secondly, the interactions that ‘Lady Bird’ has with her mom are seemingly normal in the grand scheme of things. At times they get into little verbal spats and say things that aren't so nice to one another, but I can't say I've always been a little angel when speaking to my own parents or that they haven't ever said anything to me that was particularly rude. I can only wish that I had sensed a little more of the tension that is meant to be between them through the use of even the tiniest gestures - like eyes widening or inexplicable flinching - And I imagine other audience members will feel the same. Regardless, the melodramatic nature of the dialogue adds a certain amount of character to this story that is unexpected and delightful. On one hand, a majority of the conversations sound like ones we have had in our own households or are one we can imagine having with our own friends and acquaintances. This is paired with lines that seem unbelievably scripted and yet they are remarkably clever and wonderfully original. Fans of zippy one-liners and quick-witted humor alike will find the experience of watching ‘Lady Bird’ as being both entertaining and worthwhile. If I was to rate this movie based on how close or how accurately it reflects its description it would easily be a 3; My shamelessly biased opinion of Chalamet (I think he’s just naturally alluring. He’s hard not to like!) And appreciation of the performances put on by Ronin and Metcalf bump it up to a 3.5. Won’t blow your mind by any means but is well worth your while: I would recommend!

One of my favorite coming of age movies Great cast and acting

I am finally late in its viewing. I however have the musical CD in my car. Not sure my delay, but perhaps all the hype for many reasons. I like viewing with a critical lens while rooting for a hometown girl. This made me cry, laugh, and bring down memory lane. Some comments I would swear I wrote!!! I went to this school (name change), was in drama and plays, and a Sacramento girl who couldn’t wait to leave. 35 years later? I can’t wait to visit and perhaps move back. It’s a city with much history and yet it’s a city that many poke fun of. As an adult I’ve learned more about SacTown and all its glory. If you love tree varieties…google. I’m glad the catholic school experience was played the way it was for me. Yes there are hysterical nuns and priests. Mentors, Pretentious, Rebellious, Fabulous Friends, Critical Mothers, all in the name of a stellar education? This movie has it all. Thank you!! Well done. I called my Mom immediately after I watched. She too recently wrote me a letter. Wild! Watch this. You won’t be disappointed and you might learn a thing or two in the complexity of people.

Great

This film is basically a sympathetic look at a girl's coming of age experience while attending a modern Catholic school. She has a troubled relationship with her overbearing mother, she acts out a bit, shop lifts, has anti-climatic sex with some dumb guy, and manages to get into a university across the country. None of the characters are particularly well thought out; the actors were competent, but the writing was so mediocre that they couldn't rise above. Overweight Julie pops in and out of her life in a lame attempt to illustrate the faithful but abandoned friend who gets redemption in the end. She was an interesting character but we never really got to understand what makes her tick, or what Lady Bird loved about her, or what she loved about Lady Bird. The rich girl that Lady Bird befriends during her rebel phase is initially presented as a kind of Mean Girls rich anti-hero type, wearing the obligatory overly-short skirt to show her rebellious/don't-care attitude, yet she surprisingly and uncharacteristically comes out with some moralistic preachings "I don't like liars" and "I don't care what kind of house you live in". Then she fades into the background when her role as rebel/temptress is no longer required to advance the plot. The Catholic school is depicted quite sympathetically; the nuns & teachers and priests all come across as real people, kind, generous, and understanding. Not quite the experience of many Catholic grads I have spoken with, but okay, maybe it's genuine, I can't say. The Catholic services were beautiful and compelling. This movie was written by a Catholic or at least someone who greatly sympathizes with Catholic society. It's actually refreshing, given the amount of bashing that Catholicism has gotten in recent decades. The mother-daughter relationship is the centerpiece of the story, yet never really gets fully fleshed out. The mom is a psychiatric nurse working double shifts to pay the bills, guilt tripping her daughter ("do you have any idea how much you cost us?") and putting her down in bizarre and rather cruel ways ("you'll never have a job where you make that much money"). Overall the mom comes across as a borderline sociopath whose job is to hurt Lady Bird and put her down as much as possible, yet simultaneously uplift her with surprising and uncharacteristic moments of tenderness. As dad of a 15-year-old, I have some sympathy for the parents; the mother daughter relationship is indeed fraught, and fathers and daughters tend to get along quite well; it's real, not just a Hollywood stereotype. As in other films, though, it's all rather exaggerated for effect. Overall, a B- for effort. Saoirse Ronan is a decent actor who played the role bravely. At age 22, she manages to pull off a 17-year-old confused high school student well enough. One bit of revealed trivia: the intense lighting caused her face to break out in acne during production, and she persuaded the director not to cover it up. Many high school kids have acne, and look and move and talk awkwardly, not like the smooth, handsome 25-year-olds usually employed in Hollywood high school depictions, so kudos to Saoirse for at least trying to put some realism back into an otherwise rather plastic and stereotypical effort. There is potential for this to have been a great film; they could have more thoroughly explored the tensions between Catholic society and mainstream society, especially given the film's setting in California. They could have gone more deeply into the mysterious personal issues of the drama teacher, a sympathetic character who disappears halfway through the movie. They could have been a bit more realistic with the wealth gap; Lady Bird's parents were not wealthy people, and Lady Bird is ashamed of their poverty, we are repeatedly told, yet their house looked huge from the outside, certainly not a working class structure from the "other side of the tracks". A missed opportunity in my opinion, but still some nice moments and they managed to avoid the excesses of nudity, profanity, and violence that seem to beset most coming of age films these days.