Lady Bird Review

Lady Bird is a coming of age story about a girl going through her last year of high school while also trying to figure out the fate of her future when applying for college.

First off, I have to say the performances in the movie were spectacular, especially from Saoirse Ronan as Lady Bird. The way the actors talked always just felt so natural as if I was eavesdropping on little moments of their lives. It really was written brilliantly because there are so many times where characters are talking over each other while laughing or screaming, making those scenes feel so raw and genuine.

Lady Bird also escapes a lot of the cliches that usually appear with these kinds of coming of age stories. For example, I like the fact that even though our main character goes to a religiously strict school, it’s not made out to be a burden on her individuality like lots of other films try to make it seem with these kinds of institutions. Her problems develop more organically through her relationships and interactions with other characters, which I thought was more meaningful and gave more meat to the world around her. It felt as if these people existed before the movie started and that we, as the audience, were just being let in on this little section of it all.

Speaking of relationships, I also like how the film didn’t drag on the romantic subplots. The story doesn’t fall into letting Lady Bird’s love life be the main obstacle of this girl’s journey (like what most films do with these types of female leads). Instead the relationships are coupled with other real world issues she has to endure to help develop Lady Bird’s gradual climb to maturity as she ends her high school career.

My favorite thing about the movie, though, was the familial aspect. Yes, Lady Bird does have her moments of teen angst where she does things like argue with her mother, but the film cleverly balances that by showing both the reasoning behind each person’s emotional pain and the amount of love they still have for each other through certain actives and conversations they take part in as members of a dysfunctional but close family. It really helped convey the realism of the whole thing because as with most characters in this movie no one is painted in black or white. These characters are all like normal people living in their own grey area. There’s a scene towards the end between Lady Bird and her mother that really hit me emotionally because of how well the writers got me to care for these people almost as if I knew them personally.

Honestly, I was so engaged in this world that I sometimes forgot I was watching a movie and by the end I wouldn’t have cared if the story had just kept going because of how much I was invested in these characters and the decisions they would make next. I had this similar feeling when watching “Boyhood” a few years ago but this was a more enjoyable film in my opinion because of how unique and fresh it felt regarding the genre. This is definitely one of my favorite movies of the past year and a must watch for anyone who’s trying to catch up on all these award winning films.

The Verdict: 9.5