Indie actress-writer Greta Gerwig became a breakout sensation in director Noah Baumbach's 2013 critical favorite Frances Ha, and she reunited with the celebrated filmmaker for 2015's Mistress America. This year, she made an impressive directorial debut with the semi-autobiographical Lady Bird.
Set in Sacramento, CA, in the early Aughts (2002, actually), "Lady Bird" is the "given" name that high school senior Christine McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) chooses to go by. "It's given to me, by me," she tells us. A very passive-aggressive and occasionally rebellious character, Lady Bird wants to go to school(s) of her choice and experience culture of her choice, but feels held back by her mother Marion (Laurie Metcalf) as well as family finances, limited job opportunities in a post-9/11 America, and other personal and relational hardships.
The mother-daughter dynamic is central to Gerwig's script. Says Lady Bird's first boyfriend Danny (Lucas Hedges), "You're mom is very warm. But she's also kind of scary." "You can't be warm as scary at the same time," she says. "I think you can," continues Lucas. "You're mom is." This dialogue alone may sum up not only the love-hate relationship between Lady Bird and her mother (Ronan and Metcalf play these out superbly in two of the year's best performances), but also the dynamics within Lady Bird herself, who continually seems to be vying for what she feels is ideally best. "You can't do anything unless you're the center of attention!" argues her best friend Julie (Beanie Feldstein, sister of Jonah Hill).
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| Soairse Ronan and Greta Gerwig behind the scenes |
Lady Bird certainly has its content issues, from its language to its sexual content (including an unnecessary intercourse, interrupted by, of all things, a nose bleed; not to mention brief but graphic images of a Playgirl magazine). To its credit, Lady Bird finds no real satisfaction in the latter; only disappointment. Because the story is partly set at a Catholic school, any negative view (let alone portrayal of) religious figures and teachers is surprisingly absent. They're instead portrayed as figures who are understanding and reverent. Although, some viewers may scoff at certain scenes at this school, such as Lady Bird and Julie snacking on communion wafers or placing a "Just Married to Jesus" sign on the back of a head nun's car (which said nun, played by the wonderful Lois Smith, ironically finds hilarious).
Yet, for all these flaws, there's a very compelling story about a young woman who wants to do what so many teenagers transitioning into adulthood think they want to do or should do. What makes Gerwig's story unique is that her main character does those things and is disappointed by them, and then she is reminded of who she is, where she comes from, and where she's going or could go. Two of my favorite scenes involve Lady Bird making the wise choice to spend what was initially a "date night," with her new friends and boyfriend, instead with her best friend. The other involves her waking up from a night of heavy drinking, realizing its Sunday, and going to a local morning mass, her eyes smeared with draining mascara.
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| Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf |
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