Lady Bird

November 1, 20175 min

For most teenagers the years of High School can feel like the last years of being in prison sometimes. I mean sure depending on who you ask prison is a lot harsher and I only bring up the comparisons in the sense of waiting for parole. Those final years of High School most of us spent it looking for schools far away to do whatever it took to get away from home. I myself never felt that way, but I understand the need to get away. It is only after you leave home that you can look back at it with a longing and appreciate what you had.

While I never felt that way, you know who does? “Lady Bird”-don’t-call-me-Christine McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) as she is ready for escape. The desire to leave her current station in life mainly comes from her relationship with her mother Marion (Laurie Metcalf), it’s one of those best of times and worst. The best are easily forgotten when you are angry and lets face it as a teenager we were always angry. Lady Bird has a plan, to go to school in New York at a liberal arts college, but her mom rejects that notion because of finances. Not to be deterred, Laby Bird does what she needs to do to carry out her dream and along the way during her senior year try and discover who she is. While she thinks she wants to be one thing, the truth is she was always happy with who she was, all she needed to do was find out for herself.

Telling this story as a writer I would have to use my own experiences from growing up. That is exactly what writer/director Greta Gerwig did, as she used a lot of the bases from her days of growing up in Sacramento to tell this story. Gerwig who has a cadence to her acting style carries that over to her writing as well. You could see Gerwing in the character of Lady Bird, but the real treat is to watch Ronan turn it into her own. Awkwardness is supposed to be funny, and Gerwig uses that to her advantage as there is nothing more awkward in life than being a teenager. While that adds to the comedy, what is truly beautiful about this film is the discovery that comes along with it. Everything feels natural and real, like this is just life and we are watching it unfold. There are plenty of laughs, but the sweet moments feel like a reward and if you have a teenager going through this, “Lady Bird” would bring you and your teenager some comfort, knowing it will get better. This is the kind of movie that will live forever, not only because it is near perfect, but also because it is just the kind of story that can be told forever.

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