Joel’s review of Lady Bird (2017) – I don’t know if I get it

My first film of the new year (and literally, we went on New Year’s Day) was Lady Bird. Well, the kids also went to see Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, so the Ipes actually saw two movies this year.

[Side bar – the kids approved of the new Jumanji film.]

Lady Bird is the directorial debut of Greta Gerwig, and stars Saoirse Ronan as 17 year old Christine / “Lady Bird” McPherson, Laurie Metcalf as her mother Marion McPherson, Tracy Letts as her father Larry, and a slew of other characters. The film is supposedly semi-autobiographical about Greta Gerwig, and her life growing up as a teen in Sacramento, California. The film takes place over the course of Lady Bird’s / Christine’s senior year at Catholic high school. She navigates relationships between old and new friends, new boyfriends, her father, and her mother. She also has to prep for graduation.

It’s the mother – daughter relationship that often comes forward, as they are like oil and water. Constantly fighting but in that familial way. Mom is loving but slightly domineering. Lady Bird is young and reckless.

I appreciate the acting in this film, but I’m still digesting it. I thought the writing and directing were good, and the acting by everyone was top-notch. Once the credits began to roll, however, I said, “Um, okay….. was that it?” It felt like a year in the life of a teenage girl. I don’t know if there was a moral, a particular theme, or a message. It was a story, but not a complicated one. Life is complicated? Is family complicated? Is life as a teenager complicated?

If anyone has any feedback, I’m open for further discussion. All I have is a pair of shrugging shoulders.

Lady Bird (2017)

Lady Bird (2017)

This entry was posted in Entertainment and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *