In Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig reveals herself to be a bold new cinematic voice with her directorial debut, excavating both the humor and pathos in the turbulent bond between a mother and her teenage daughter. Christine 'Lady Bird' McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) fights against but is exactly like her wildly loving, deeply opinionated and strong-willed mom (Laurie Metcalf), a nurse working tirelessly to keep her family afloat after Lady Bird's father (Tracy Letts) loses his job...
Gerwig is traveling backwards as a writer from Frances Ha to Mistress America to Lady Bird. That trilogy of films is, dare I say, even better than Francois Truffaut's collected Adventures of Antoine Doinel.
Gerwig finds a warmer part of herself when, unencumbered by any lab partner, she returns to her hometown with Lady Bird. One can only hope that, this time, she stays.
Metcalf gives a prickly and heartbreaking performance, and she's not the only one supplied with grace notes: Almost every character gets one or another.
Gerwig's movie doesn't say much new about growing up cool with parents who aren't. But it says plenty about Gerwig's talent, another channel for a distinctive voice of her generation.
Lady Bird is a brilliant little movie that deals with ideas both big and small. But, most powerful is the relationship between Lady Bird and Marion. It is harsh and funny and sometimes hard to watch. But it is undeniably and eternally there.
