Lady Bird review

[Westside Steve]

Lady Bird
Focus Features
R.                     94 min
I won’t spend a lot of time on this one  because it’s been out for a while, but I think it bears mention. A quick scan of some movie sites had this listed as one of the buzz films for Oscar nominations so I waited until it was on at some of the local theaters. Shout out to Alex at the Montrose movies. First of all I think I understand why some of the critics are falling all over themselves. Currently anything concerning women will usually be a hot topic and this is a female coming-of-age story set in 2003. Lady Bird is the pseudonym that Christine (Saoirse Ronan) a high school girl and aspiring writer from the poor side of Sacramento, has selected for herself. Money is tight for her mom ( Laurie Metcalf) and unemployed but affable father but she yearns for acceptance among the more well-to-do kids. Most of all she longs to be accepted into one of the more respected colleges on the East Coast but mom, possibly fearing the loss of her daughter, tries to discourage that ambition. Episodes of bonding with her friends, embarrassments and near misses with a couple romantic interests and eventual self-realization all combined to make up a pleasant if unspectacular tale, even if the autobiographical story of becomes a writer is  something of a cliché. Also one of the characters is gay, and there are a couple of possibly adopted Hispanic kids, and the critics and the academy seem to love that. I didn’t think it was great but I’m usually at least somewhat impressed if people can put out a decent product on a relatively small budget so I’ll split the difference.
B-
WSS
 

[The Gipper]

An overall B- is about right Steve.   I said elsewhere that the story was uninteresting..  (hell...I think dealing with my own teenage daughter was just as good as dealing with this girl's issues.)    I said B for the acting...and C for the story.   So, B- is right.  Perhaps even a bit generous.