November 3, 2017 2 min to read

Lady Bird

Greta Gerwig is just as brilliant behind the camera as she is in front of it. The jokes feel timeless, and the excanges stick with you.

by Zach Saul

Lady Bird is a breathtaking movie. equal parts hilarious, sweet, clever, and nostalgic I was smiling involuntarily in just about every scene. Gretta Gerwig looks like a force to be reckoned with should she choose to write and direct more movies as Lady Bird will almost certainly earn a nomination at the oscars. Saoirse Ronan is an incredible young actress and she’s not only believable as a high school senior - but at a conflicted and evolving girl grappling with angst and big dreams. This movie really had me thinking about Malcom Gladwell’s idea of “righteous orthodoxy” - the idea that getting smarter doesn’t have to mean throwing traditions by the wayside. Intellectuals (like the boy Lady Bird meets who says god is ‘ridiculous’) often cast the orthodox or the traditionalist as rigid and close minded. Lady Bird points out that believing in something, or even some traditions is more nuanced than being evangelical or atheist, and faith can take a much broader shape that whether a person goes to church or not. Theres a beauty and a simplicity to things we do for tradition’s sake just as theres a beauty to newness, excitement, and rebellion.

Lady Bird also benefits from a special brand of ‘realist’ comedy that fans of Noah Baumbach (Gretta Gerwig’s Husband) movies will recognize: it’s a tone that doesn’t belittle the characters problems but acknowledges their absurdity at the same time. The sum of simple frustrations create the conflict in Lady Bird: a mother who loves you but doesn’t like you, a boyfriend who likes you but doesn’t love you, and friends you accidentally take for granted. Particularly when you are 18 years old it can be tough to navigate imbalances between the way you feel about others versus how they feel about you.

The Good: Lady Bird chooses a subject matter that’s been told a thousand times before and tells it in a fresh nuanced voice, and with three dimensional characters. Ronan does such a masterful job of taking the audience through her thought process (as Lady Bird) through each decision she makes that I felt like I understand what “coolness” means to high school girls in a deeper way after seeing this movie. The problems and conflicts are instantly relatable, and the personalities feel like people I haven’t met before but wish I had.

The Bad: The writing is so clever and the acting is so resonant I wish at times Gerwig would have slowed down the pacing to let the audience ruminate at times.