David Stratton: Lady Bird, Stronger: charming, truthful, inspirational
Lady Bird is exceptional: one of the most charming and truthful films you’re likely to see this year. That’s why our reviewer gave it 4.5 stars.
There have been countless films about teenagers, their relationships with their parents and their first tentative sexual experiences. Lady Bird is another to add to the long list, but it’s one of the best — one of the most charming and truthful films you’re likely to see this year.
Greta Gerwig appeared in her first feature film, the rather obscure LOL, in 2006, but she has subsequently worked with some of America’s best independent directors on a series of films — some of which she helped to write — structured around the role of women in contemporary society. The first of these was Greenberg (2010), in which Gerwig’s performance as a troubled young woman was electrifying. She subsequently made two more films with the same director, Noah Baumbach (Frances Ha and Mistress America), and she has also worked with Whit Stillman (Damsels in Distress), Mike Mills (20th Century Women) and Rebecca Miller (Maggie’s Plan).
All these films proved rewarding in one way or another, so the arrival of Gerwig’s first major film as director, Lady Bird, has been eagerly anticipated — though she previously made the little-seen Nights and Weekends in 2008.
Lady Bird turns out to be an exceptional movie, and has been deservedly nominated for Oscars for best film, best director, best original screenplay (also Gerwig), best actress (Irish-born Saorise Ronan, who first came to fame as the manipulative child in Atonement) and best supporting actress (Laurie Metcalf). That’s quite an achievement for a young director.
Lady Bird is autobiographical. Gerwig was born in Sacramento in 1983, and she tells this potentially overfamiliar story of a young teenager’s personal problems with heartfelt insight. You sense that she’s lived every moment that she brings to vivid life on screen.
Christine McPherson (Ronan), who prefers to be called Lady Bird, lives with her parents, Marion (Metcalf) and Larry (Tracy Letts), in Sacramento. Sacramento is the state capital of California, but “anyone who talks about Californian hedonism has never spent a summer in Sacramento”. The quote is from Joan Didion, and it appears as a title at the start of the movie. For young Christine, Sacramento is a deathly bore, and she can’t wait to escape and go to New York. She also wants to lose her virginity.
It’s 2002: “The only exciting thing about 2002 is that it’s a palindrome,” declares Lady Bird who, with her dyed red hair and acne-scarred cheeks, sees herself as a rebel at the Eternal Flame Catholic High School she reluctantly attends, and where she doesn’t bother to study very much.
She has a fractious relationship with her mother and a rather better one with her father who, however, has just lost his job. She has an adopted brother, Miguel (Jordan Rodrigues), and her parents allow his girlfriend to live with him in the house. Lady Bird’s best friend is Julia (Beanie Feldstein), who is sweet but has a weight problem.
Gerwig’s casting choices are right on the mark. The two young men in Lady Bird’s life are played by two fine up-and-coming actors: Lucas Hedges from Manchester by the Sea and Timothee Chalamet from Call Me By Your Name. The former plays Danny, who introduces her to acting, while the latter is Kyle, who hangs out with the richer kids and reads books about American history.
As is often the case, her first sexual experience isn’t exactly how she expected it to be. Gerwig fills the movie with insights into the world of her character, and every element has the ring of truth about it.
Lady Bird’s complicated relationship with her parents is just one of the film’s great strengths — Marion’s idea of a good time is to take her daughter on trips to inspect houses that are up for sale. Metcalf is amazingly good in this role, but then it’s a beautifully written character. One of the lovely things about Lady Bird is how Gerwig depicts her parents, with a mixture of love and frustration.
Lady Bird is an absolute charmer of a movie. We genuinely care about this lovely, rebellious girl and we want her to be happy. It’s good to know that, when she grew up, the Lady Bird was transformed into Greta Gerwig.
***
In Peter Berg’s film Patriots Day (2016), the story of the terrorist attack on the 2013 Boston marathon was told largely from the perspective of the hunt for the perpetrators. David Gordon Green’s Stronger looks at one of the people whose life was forever changed by the bombing — a survivor.
Jeff Bauman, portrayed with intensity and intelligence by Jake Gyllenhaal, was an “ordinary” Bostonian. He lived with members of his constantly bickering, small-minded, beer-swilling family, including his alcoholic mother, Patty (British actor Miranda Richardson). He worked in a food store but often made a mess of things, like allowing a whole oven full of chickens to burn. He would hang out in the same bar with the same mates every night, talking about baseball. He was making a mess of his relationship with his sweet girlfriend, Erin (Tatiana Maslany), usually arriving late for dates, often standing her up and usually disappointing her to the point that she’d decided on a break up.
Erin was running in the marathon that fateful morning and Jeff decided to show her he’d turned over a new leaf. He wrote a handmade greeting sign and positioned himself at the finishing line — standing right next to the bombs that exploded, which blew off both his legs. He was actually able to identify one of the bombers and thus help with the subsequent manhunt.
The film, scripted by John Pollono and based on a book written by Bauman in collaboration with Bret Witter, is mainly concerned with Jeff’s slow recovery. And it’s to the credit of the filmmakers, and to Gyllenhaal, that Jeff is depicted with what appears to be brutal honesty. He’s not a particularly likeable guy, but who can blame him with a family such as his.
Fortunately, he has Erin — Maslany is heartbreakingly good in the role — and she decides to stick by him. Not that it’s easy and, again, Stronger doesn’t go for the easy option, making it crystal clear how difficult and painful Jeff’s recovery and return to something passing for normality really was. There’s a gut-wrenching scene in which his bandages are removed for the first time and which is photographed and framed in such a way as to allow the viewer the full impact of the ordeal. Taking a shower for the first time, going to the toilet — these everyday activities provide monumental impediments for a man learning to live with no legs.
Also effective are the scenes in which Jeff is later used as part of the “Boston Strong” campaign to rev up civic pride in the wake of the bombing. We understand how difficult it was for Jeff to take part in public events, how embarrassing it was to be greeted warmly by complete strangers, and just why he decided to turn down a TV appearance with Oprah Winfrey.
This, then, is an inspirational film about recovery and renewal after disaster. It’s not an easy film to watch, especially because so many of Jeff’s family members are themselves walking disasters. But the performances by Gyllenhaal and Maslany make the ordeal worthwhile.
Lady Bird (MA15+)
4.5 stars
National release from Thursday
Stronger (MA15+)
3.5 stars
Limited national release from Thursday