Film Review: Lady Bird

(Photo: A24 Films)

By Brigette Ginter

I went into Lady Bird very excited, as it encapsulates the years that I was in High School. But I’ll be honest, I have been very disappointed with many Hollywood movies of late.

Written and Directed by Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird could easily be classified as a typical “coming of age” film, but in my opinion, it’s so much more. I laughed, I cried, I reminisced.

A lot of critics purely concentrate on the fact that this film tells a relationship between a mother and a teenage daughter. Most women can attest to the fact that these years are rough. Mom’s and daughters have very special, unique, and complicated bonds. But this film is also about what it feels like to be young and confident, yet completely insecure. 

Lady Bird is a beautiful film. It tells the story of how heart-wrenching, painful, and complicated growing up is. I like to think as I was “coming of age” (I’m just going to roll with this term), I always thought life was supposed to be how it looked in the movies. I felt I missed the milestones that Hollywood/society says you need or should have in order to be an adolescent. 

The film presents the story of growing up, which, as we all know, is hard, beautiful, painful, funny, and life-altering. It is not sugar coated, and that is why it is so powerful. Saoirse Ronan, the lead in the film, does a stellar job at exuding the confidence, exuberance, and angst of youth.

I left the film feeling as if I had relived my adolescence, although I had little in common with the character other than we are part of the same generation of millennial. It beautifully captured what it feels like to be making big decisions, while at the same time not really being mature in any way or form.  It symbolized how we are forced to grow up and change, whether we like it or not.  Change is not always a choice … I think sometimes we forget that.  We are focused so much on what we can control in life.  Sometimes, life just happens to us.

Lady Bird has so far been my favorite film of the year.  The acting is superb.  The script is stellar.  It is funny, touching, and totally relatable.  I left wishing I had given myself a name for myself by myself.  Watch the film, you’ll get it. 

Lady Bird is currently playing in Metropolitan Theatres in Santa Barbara.