Lady Bird

Greta Gerwig’s solo directorial debut, Lady Bird follows Saoirse Ronan’s title character as she attempts to navigate the final year of her high school experience – with the film detailing Lady Bird’s squabbles with her parents (Laurie Metcalf’s Marion and Tracy Letts’ Larry) and her relationships with two very different boys (Lucas Hedges’ Danny and Timothée Chalamet’s Kyle). Writer/director Gerwig delivers a familiar yet charming narrative that contains virtually all of the touchstones one associates with the coming-of-age genre, and yet, for the most part, Lady Bird comes off as a pervasively affable dramedy that benefits from Gerwig’s relatively authentic approach and a smattering of superb performances. In terms of the latter, Ronan’s excellent turn as the movie’s conflicted protagonist is matched by an exceedingly strong supporting cast – with, in particular, Metcalf and Letts delivering seriously impressive work as Lady Bird’s exasperated folks. And although Gerwig’s screenplay is rife with sometimes unreasonably recognizable elements (eg Lady Bird squabbles with her parents, Lady Bird has boy problems, Lady Bird drops her unpopular friend for a popular one, etc, etc), Lady Bird, notwithstanding an ending that comes about five minutes too late, comes off as a solid debut from a promising new filmmaker.

*** out of ****