Lady Bird (2017)

Lady Bird: Directed by Greta Gerwig. With Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges. In 2002, an artistically inclined seventeen-year-old girl comes of age in Sacramento, California.

“Lady Bird is surprisingly set in a post-9/11 Sacramento in 2002 , which is an un-usual but refreshing era for a modern coming-of-age story. While coming of age stories can often fall in to their charming but conventional trappings, Lady Bird shines in that it doesnu0026#39;t shy away from showing the faults of the characters it follows throughout its run time, almost to the point that you want to see even more of their journeys through life.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eLady Bird has excellent cinematography and believable characters with identifiable flaws and traits that really ground the movie. Lady Bird takes influence from the u0026#39;mumblecoreu0026#39; sub genre (a drama with emphasis on natural dialogue and personal character relationships over plot) and ties it nicely with a coming of age structure that doesnu0026#39;t over stay its welcome and definitely takes its own path you can relate to as a viewer. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSaoirse Ronan is particularly charming as our main character and bounces well with Laurie Metcalf and Tracy Letts filling in as her parents. The movie addresses a few subjects that arenu0026#39;t touched upon in most conventional coming of age movies, which gives the film a mature feeling. Particularly the 15 certificate in the UK meant the film didnu0026#39;t have to pander towards a younger audience, which is exactly want you want as a viewer of this genre because teenagers swear, talk about sex and abuse alcohol/drugs.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSome viewers may find its general pacing, structure and tone to be not particularly entertaining and up beat as many other coming of age movies but I found it enjoyable, funny and grounded. The soundtrack also wasnu0026#39;t particularly that memorable but does include some nods towards that era and adds some licensed tracks that some may appreciate. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA decent coming of age movie that shakes genre conventions but nothing particularly groundbreaking.”