2018 Film Review: Lady Bird (2017)

Directed by: Greta Gerwig
Written by: Greta Gerwig
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts
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This makes the last of the Best Picture nominees that I had to see. As it happens, it's also my clear pick. This was a truly incredible piece of emotion and reality, a depiction of a life completely heartfelt and heartbreaking, the likes of which are rarely seen.

This is a year in the life of Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson. She deals with her parents, her friends, boys, and how all of them impact her life as she tries to find her place in it. She struggles with how others see her, she acts as and deals with issues in the way you'd expect a teenage girl to; it's a fine line to walk between relatable and insufferable, but director Gerwig walks that line flawlessly. Lady Bird is less a character, more an actual human being, a not-quite-adult in the process of understanding what it means to come of age while juggling insecurities and the conflict between idealistic youth and the sobering realism that accompanies growing up. You've likely seen the style of story before, but never done so well.

The whole film plays out like a life remembered, with the steady hand of someone who's thought about them long enough to understand them on a deeper level. Sometimes weeks or months can pass by in moments, sometimes the movie will agonise over a few seconds; it's all done with deliberate expression of what moments stay with us the longest. Lady Bird is less impacted by her first boyfriend cheating on her with another guy than she is by the cry session she has with her best friend, or the apology and fear he shares with her later. It's an incredibly seamless yet real experience.

The film realises even the smallest of characters as people, with quirks or moments given to them that don't do anything to further Lady Bird's life, but earn even the smallest of quirks. It's a reminder of how much of this is a powerful retrospective, with Lady Bird's own self-concern contrasting with the film's time spent on characters who she doesn't ever interact with directly, but whose impact at the time was enough that they are considered now. The fact that the film devotes a few moments to the personal struggles of a priest drama teacher helps to keep the world around Lady Bird alive and moving, showing the effects people have on each other that then leads them to impact other people on and on in life.   

All of this is made that much better by the incredible performances of everyone involved, Metcalf and Ronan in particular. For the time that the film is, you believe that they are mother and daughter, and every interaction is out of life itself, spoken with words that carry with them the weight of experience. Every other character is also well-performed; personal recognition goes to Tracy Letts as Lady Bird's father, as non-confrontational as the sort of perfect movie dad is, and Timothee Chalamet as Kyle, a kid who's as fake as he thinks he's real and as shallow as he thinks he's deep.

The Short Version: Lady Bird is honest. For the brief time it's with you, the film is a collection of memories of a life lived, observed so sincerely that it feels as if they could be your own.

Rating: 10/10

Published February 10th, 2018