Lady Bird (DVD Plus Digital download)

My rating is more of a 3.5Thank you for readingLady Bird is a 2017 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Greta Gerwig in her solo directorial debut. The cast includes Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges, Timothée Chalamet, Beanie Feldstein, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Lois Smith. Set in Sacramento, California, between the fall of 2002 and the summer of 2003, it is a coming-of-age story of a high school senior and her strained relationship with her mother.As someone that isn’t a huge fan of coming-of-age films I was pleasantly surprised by how easy this one is to enjoy; the simplicity of the plot compliments the tone embraced by Gerwig’s directing style, and is one that most - if not all audience members - can easily relate to without strain or an inflated sense of imagination.There’s nothing new about the plot of this film when you start stipping the meat off of it: Daughter despises parents. Daughter is in her senior year of high school. Daughter has aspirations that **happen** to physically separate her from the environment she is currently in. Regardless, ‘Lady Bird’ grounds itself through characters that are authentically flawed and unapologetically jagged; the awkward manner in which Christine explores her identity and comes to terms with her reality is wholesomely transparent and ultimately feels natural. if one accepts this as an average coming-of-age film then it's easy to watch without much criticism; however, what I expected this movie to be and what it ended up turning into are seemingly separate entities from one another. The trailer and description sell this film as having the relationship between ‘Lady Bird’ and her mom at the center, but it would be fair to call this false advertising.For one, there is a never-ending integration of pressures that Christine is dealing with that act as points of contention in this film such as trying to get into college, dealing with some amount of peer pressure, exploring the expectations (sometimes sexual) of intimate relationships…….I think you get the point. This is certainly a responsible and respectful representation of the totality of this experience of being on the edge of Independence with so much still left to learn, but this makes the relationship she has with her mom seem like a part of her life that is easily forgotten about or ignored. At the end of the day, it is just particularly hard to discern how much of an influence this relationship with her mom has on the decisions the primary character ultimately makes.Secondly, the interactions that ‘Lady Bird’ has with her mom are seemingly normal in the grand scheme of things. At times they get into little verbal spats and say things that aren't so nice to one another, but I can't say I've always been a little angel when speaking to my own parents or that they haven't ever said anything to me that was particularly rude. I can only wish that I had sensed a little more of the tension that is meant to be between them through the use of even the tiniest gestures - like eyes widening or inexplicable flinching - And I imagine other audience members will feel the same.Regardless, the melodramatic nature of the dialogue adds a certain amount of character to this story that is unexpected and delightful. On one hand, a majority of the conversations sound like ones we have had in our own households or are one we can imagine having with our own friends and acquaintances. This is paired with lines that seem unbelievably scripted and yet they are remarkably clever and wonderfully original. Fans of zippy one-liners and quick-witted humor alike will find the experience of watching ‘Lady Bird’ as being both entertaining and worthwhile.If I was to rate this movie based on how close or how accurately it reflects its description it would easily be a 3; My shamelessly biased opinion of Chalamet (I think he’s just naturally alluring. He’s hard not to like!) And appreciation of the performances put on by Ronin and Metcalf bump it up to a 3.5.Won’t blow your mind by any means but is well worth your while:I would recommend!

This film is basically a sympathetic look at a girl's coming of age experience while attending a modern Catholic school. She has a troubled relationship with her overbearing mother, she acts out a bit, shop lifts, has anti-climatic sex with some dumb guy, and manages to get into a university across the country.None of the characters are particularly well thought out; the actors were competent, but the writing was so mediocre that they couldn't rise above. Overweight Julie pops in and out of her life in a lame attempt to illustrate the faithful but abandoned friend who gets redemption in the end. She was an interesting character but we never really got to understand what makes her tick, or what Lady Bird loved about her, or what she loved about Lady Bird.The rich girl that Lady Bird befriends during her rebel phase is initially presented as a kind of Mean Girls rich anti-hero type, wearing the obligatory overly-short skirt to show her rebellious/don't-care attitude, yet she surprisingly and uncharacteristically comes out with some moralistic preachings "I don't like liars" and "I don't care what kind of house you live in". Then she fades into the background when her role as rebel/temptress is no longer required to advance the plot.The Catholic school is depicted quite sympathetically; the nuns & teachers and priests all come across as real people, kind, generous, and understanding. Not quite the experience of many Catholic grads I have spoken with, but okay, maybe it's genuine, I can't say. The Catholic services were beautiful and compelling. This movie was written by a Catholic or at least someone who greatly sympathizes with Catholic society. It's actually refreshing, given the amount of bashing that Catholicism has gotten in recent decades.The mother-daughter relationship is the centerpiece of the story, yet never really gets fully fleshed out. The mom is a psychiatric nurse working double shifts to pay the bills, guilt tripping her daughter ("do you have any idea how much you cost us?") and putting her down in bizarre and rather cruel ways ("you'll never have a job where you make that much money"). Overall the mom comes across as a borderline sociopath whose job is to hurt Lady Bird and put her down as much as possible, yet simultaneously uplift her with surprising and uncharacteristic moments of tenderness. As dad of a 15-year-old, I have some sympathy for the parents; the mother daughter relationship is indeed fraught, and fathers and daughters tend to get along quite well; it's real, not just a Hollywood stereotype. As in other films, though, it's all rather exaggerated for effect.Overall, a B- for effort. Saoirse Ronan is a decent actor who played the role bravely. At age 22, she manages to pull off a 17-year-old confused high school student well enough. One bit of revealed trivia: the intense lighting caused her face to break out in acne during production, and she persuaded the director not to cover it up. Many high school kids have acne, and look and move and talk awkwardly, not like the smooth, handsome 25-year-olds usually employed in Hollywood high school depictions, so kudos to Saoirse for at least trying to put some realism back into an otherwise rather plastic and stereotypical effort.There is potential for this to have been a great film; they could have more thoroughly explored the tensions between Catholic society and mainstream society, especially given the film's setting in California. They could have gone more deeply into the mysterious personal issues of the drama teacher, a sympathetic character who disappears halfway through the movie. They could have been a bit more realistic with the wealth gap; Lady Bird's parents were not wealthy people, and Lady Bird is ashamed of their poverty, we are repeatedly told, yet their house looked huge from the outside, certainly not a working class structure from the "other side of the tracks". A missed opportunity in my opinion, but still some nice moments and they managed to avoid the excesses of nudity, profanity, and violence that seem to beset most coming of age films these days.

I usually enjoy films with Saoirse in but this one just wasn’t as good, and I was really looking forward to seeing this.Ok positives, I really liked the side characters, Christines family, even her brothers girlfriend, her ‘best friend’, which leads me into my main negative, as I got further into the film I would have preferred to follow them instead. Yes Christine is a young hormonal teen and makes mistakes, but her over the top decisions and reactions were a bit annoying. Also was Timothee’s character meant to be a brooding geek without being interesting?Conclusion, I wouldn’t watch this again, but the side characters really held this film together for me and kept my interest, they earned my three stars.Disappointed in this, which makes me hesitant to even try Little Women which is another I was interested in watching by the same director.

Bought this twice, both were returned because they did not have the advertised Digital Download, if the Picture and product description state it has a Digital Download, then I expect to have one, several times I have ordered a Blu-Ray and been surprised to have a Digital Download Code included in the pack, with no mention of it on the pack or in the description, nice surprise, but when it is advertised as having one, it is part of the deal when bought, as for the film, who knows what it’s like, it is a subjective thing, some will hate it, some will love it, some will find it ok, I couldn’t tell you what I think, as I have not yet seen it, some reviewers liked it some hated it, my review is of the product received, which was just a blu-Ray, and not the product I ordered.

Irish actress Saoirse Rohan is very accomplished and funny with a quirky sense of humour that delights and amuses. Ladybird by Greta Gerwig is directed with just the right touch to fully engage the audience in this girl's transition from teenager to emerging womanhood with warmth, panache, and style. Highly recommended to everyone, especially parents and grandparents.

"Lady Bird" ist ein sehr stimmiger Coming of Age Beitrag, der es bei der Oscarwahl 2018 auf fünf Nominierugen brachte. Die Hauptdarstellerin Saoirse Ronan schaffte es damit zum dritten Mal für einen Oscar nominiert zu werden. Als beste Nebendarstellerin ging sie bereits 2008 mit "Abbitte" ins Rennen. Im letzten Jahr schaffte sie es erneut mit "Brooklyn - Eine Liebe zwischen zwei Welten" - diesmal in der Kategoriei Hauptdarstellerin. Bisher ging die irischstämmige Aktrice leer aus, aber man hat das Gefühl, dass sie ihre beste Zeit noch vor sich haben könnte.Genauso überzeugend ist auch Laurie Metcalf als Mutter von Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson. Auch sie wurde mit einer Nominierung belohnt. Ebenso erfolgreich lief es in den Kategorien "Bester Film", beste Regie und bestes Originaldrehbuch - beide Male Greta Gerwig.Die Filmemacherin hat ihren Independent Film auch selbst produziert.Obwohl das Drehbuch zahlreiche Elemente ihrer eigenen Jugend aufgreift, möchte Greta Gerwig ihren Film "Lady Bird" nicht als autobiographisches Werk verstanden wissen.Ein bisschen erinnert ihr etwas vor sich hinplätschender Film mit lauter kleinen Episoden an "Edge of Seventeen" von Kelly Freemon Craig aus dem Jahr 2016, der ebenfalls sehr viele gute Kritiken erhielt. Der Unterschied beider Filme liegt vielleicht in der Wirkung - während Craigs Film ausgelassener und lockerer wirkt, ist "Lady Bird" weitaus melancholischer und setzt auch auf eine Menge poetischer Anteile im Sinne von "Erwachsen werden ist nichts für Weicheier".Saoirse Ronan haucht ihrer Figur eine Menge Seele ein, sie trägt den Film. Unterstützt wird sie von einem famosen Ensemble. Die beiden männlichen Jungstars Thimothee Chalamet und Lucas Hedges sind beide schon für andere Rollen mit einer Oscar-Nominierung bedacht worden. Auch Tracy Letts und Laurie Metcalf als Eltern überzeugen auf ganzer Linie. Lois Smith als Schwester Sarah Joan, Beanie Feldstein und Odeya Rush als Christines Freundin oder Stephen Henderson als Priester bleiben positiv in Erinnerung.Ein kleiner, aber feiner Film und der Zuschauer bekommt einen Einblick in eine katholische Highschool in Sacramento. Dort legt man Wert auf Disziplin, auf Fleiß und Ordnung. Nur für Christine, die möchte, dass man sie "Lady Bird" nennt, hat genug von dieser etwas beengten Welt. Sie würde gerne ihre Heimatstadt verlassen und an der US-Ostküste studieren, dort soll alles moderner und gelassener ablaufen. Sie liebt ihre Mutter, hat aber mit ihr ständige Konflikte. Denn Marion McPherson (Laurie Metcalf) ist eine genauso starke Persönlichkeit wie ihre aufmüpfige, manchmal etwas rebellsiche Tochter und hat darüberhinaus einen harten Job im Krankenhaus.Zur Familie gehört auch der etwas stillere Vater und Christines Adoptivbruder Miguel (Jordan Rodriguez).In der Theatergruppe ihrer Schule lernt sie den etwas schüchternen Danny O'Neill (Lucas Hedges) kennen und verliebt sich in ihn. Aber auch der etwas wildere Kyle Scheible (Thimothee Chalamet), Gitarrist in einer Indieband, könnte ihr gefallen. Ansonsten hängt sie meistens mit ihrer Freundin Julie (Beanie Feldstein) rum und ist etwas eifersüchtig auf die hübsche Jenny Walton (Odeya Rush), denn deren Eltern sind um einiges vermögender als Christines Eltern..."Lady Bird" ist ein interessanter Beitrag des Coming of Age Bereichs, denn der Film bietet auch ein Stück weit realistisches Leben mit echten Typen. Ein großer Vorteil dieser Geschichte im Mosaik-Style, denn erst die vielen kleinen Epsioden fügen sich am Ende dann zum großen Ganzen und dort kommt dann auch das Plädoyer für die Indiviualisten, für die Aussenseiter voll zum Tragen. Auch besinnt sich die Hauptfigur wieder auf ihre wirklichen Bedürfnisse, nachdem sie es vorher ein bisschen ausprobiert hat wie es ist eine andere zu sein. So kehrt sie am Ende zu ihrer besten Freundin zurück und erkennt auch in den Konflikten mit ihrer Mutter die starke Bindung und Liebe, die sie mit ihr verbindet. "Lady bird" bezeichnet im Englischen auch einen Marienkäfer, was gut zur Geschichte passt. Denn wie dieser putzigen Insekten mit den schwarzen Punkten auf dem roten Panzer hat Christine den Drang einfach mal wegzufliegen. Natürlich ist der Marienkäfer auch immer wieder ein echter Glücksbringer, wie man sagt - damit steht fest, dass die Haupfigur sich selbst auch das beste für die Zukunft wünscht, wenn aus dem Mädchen irgendwann die Frau wird. Ein kleiner, aber feiner Film.Zwischen 4 und 5 Sternen.

Can't believe this was nominated for Oscars (but then again, who made the Oscar committee an authority on film-making?). It's very cliche and not very engaging. It has the feel of a 90's TV film or series.