‘Lady Bird’ review: Lovely from beginning to end

In one of the many delightful episodes of Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird, we see Christine McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) in the office of Sister Sarah Joan (Lois Smith), receiving surprising compliments on an essay she wrote.

Love and attention

According to the elderly nun, Christine, who insists on being referred to as Lady Bird, expresses a love for Sacramento in her essay. This surprises Lady Bird. From the film’s first few scenes, we are aware of her disdain for her hometown. She says she hates California. She is certain that there is no love in her heart for the town she wants to escape from.

Sister Sarah Joan then says that Lady Bird writes about the town so affectionately and with such care. Lady Bird replies that she was just describing it, that she was just paying attention. The nun then says something so reverberatingly profound.

“Don’t you think they are the same? Love and attention?”

In the next scene, Lady Bird is with her mother (Laurie Metcalf) in a boutique where she is trying on dresses for her prom. As her mom expresses disapproval of almost everything she says and wears, Lady Bird asks her mom if she likes her. Her mom, taken aback, says that she loves Lady Bird. Lady Bird disregards this assurance and repeats her question. Her mom simply says that she wants Lady Bird to be the best version of her that she can be.

The exchange between the headstrong daughter and the stern mother, when heard alongside the words of wisdom from Lady Bird’s teacher, reveals the precious and often affecting subtleties of Gerwig’s elegy to the negligence of youth and ode to the difficult peculiarities of love.

Stunning precision

Gerwig’s semi-autobiographical film takes the form of a high school comedy, not that far off from the plebeian pleasures of films like Mark Waters’ Mean Girls (2004) or Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012). But Lady Bird differentiates itself with its resounding generosity.  

The film is funny, but it does not vilify any of its characters more than necessary. They all reveal endearing imperfections.

The adults here are all fully fleshed out. They aren’t just the silly interlopers of teenage freedom that we often see in most teenage films and more the delicate victims of the selfishness and naiveté that motivate the youth.

While Gerwig populates the film with Lady Bird’s whimsical misadventures in her path to maturity, she also grants the adults around Lady Bird ample space for quiet heartaches. In fact, the film’s most poignant moments are when it shifts focus to the frustrations of Lady Bird’s parents, on their failure to grant their daughter the life she wants. Lady Bird is stunning in its precision, in its consistent ability to spark the most penetrating of emotions out of scenes that seem ordinary and routine.

Unique sensibilities

The film is beautifully acted. Ronan is stellar. Metcalf is a sobering presence.

The undeniable brilliance of Lady Bird, however, hinges on the unique sensibilities of Gerwig as both writer and director. There is more than rhyme and reason to the film’s clever assembly of episodes. There is heart. There is soul. There is an innate understanding of the complexities of maturity, of how as teenagers, we focus on being liked and neglect the obligations of being loved. – Rappler.com

Francis Joseph Cruz litigates for a living and writes about cinema for fun. The first Filipino movie he saw in the theaters was Carlo J. Caparas’ Tirad Pass. Since then, he’s been on a mission to find better memories with Philippine cinema.