Many people will know Greta Gerwig as an actress from films like Frances Ha, 20th Century Women, and Jackie, but she's also a screenwriter and director. She made her directorial debut in 2008 with Nights And Weekends, and both writes and directs Lady Bird, a coming-of-age story set in Sacramento in 2002.
Leading from the front is Saoirse Ronan as the titular character. Lady Bird isn't her real name (her real name is Christine) but that is the name she wants to be known as, a name given to her by her. Whilst it would be easy to play Lady Bird as some kooky, quirky, affected caricature, Ronan's performance is very naturalistic, and very truthful. A lot of the time, in films like this, the main characters don't feel real (it's one of the issues I have with Juno, for instance), but Lady Bird feels like a real person. She thinks she knows better, but doesn't always; she makes mistakes; she argues and she bickers with friends and family, but I found myself always empathising with her (although not always agreeing). What's also nice is that Lady Bird has a defined arc and grows as a character- the ending is touching without being blatantly emotionally manipulative.
Laurie Metcalf is just superb as Lady Bird's mother Marion. She could easily have just been a caricatured dragon-lady- the hardass parent, the bad cop- but, as one character says, she's scary but warm. Marion is having to provide for the whole family as her husband has been laid off, so works double shifts as a psych nurse. She comes across as a woman who deeply wants the best for her daughter but just doesn't know how to communicate with her; a shared moment of understanding after listening to an audiobook in the car soon descends into their usual bickering. Her rapport with Ronan is great; you believe them as a family unit. Metcalf is also a very expressive actress; she can say more in the roll of an eye or a purse of the lip than others can say with a paragraph of dialogue.
Playwright Tracy Letts (August: Osage County) is in front of the camera here as Lady Bird's father Larry. A kind-hearted, soft man, trying to find a place for himself after being laid off, he's supportive of his daughter whilst trying to mitigate between her and Marion. It's a sensitive and lovely turn. Lucas Hedges (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Manchester By The Sea) is similarly strong as Danny, Lady Bird's boyfriend who is hiding a secret of his own, whilst Timothee Chalamet is great as the arrogant and pretentious Kyle, a world away from the sensitive Elio of Call Me By Your Name. He's the 'bad boy' who Lady Bird dates after her relationship with Danny ends, but she soon learns that he's not all he's cracked up to be. Beanie Feldstein provides great support as Lady Bird's friend Julie, who gets sidelined for the 'popular crowd' but who is a genuine friend and who is burdened with an unfortunate crush on one of her teachers, and there's also a lovely supporting turn by Lois Smith as Sister Sarah Joan, one of the teachers at Lady Bird's school who gets some great lines like 'six inches for the Holy Spirit' when telling people not to dance too closely.
Gerwig's script is tight, with nothing superfluous or padded in it; the film nips along at a nice pace, only lasting 94 minutes. It also feels very authentic, very honest. It really captures the uncertainty of taking your first tentative steps into adulthood, and all of the associated fears and concerns that come with that. It's a great piece of writing.
It's an accomplished comedy-drama impeccably acted by a superb ensemble cast. Definitely worth a watch.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Tez
Blood is thicker than water. You can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family. Both of these truisms have at their heart the complex and sometimes fractious relationship of family at their core, and that's something that describes August: Osage County to a tee. A merciless dissection of a dysfunctional family brought together by tragedy, it's adapted by Tracy Letts from his own Pulitzer Prize-winning stage play. It also brings together one of the finest ensemble casts assembled on-screen.
Leading from the front is Meryl Streep in a role that has just garnered her an unparalleled eighteenth Oscar nomination. Formidable matriarch Violet Weston is an absolute gem of a role and Streep attacks it with gusto- Violet is by turns a pathetic, fragile, drug-addled mess, without her wig and glazed behind the eyes (she is receiving treatment for mouth cancer) and then she's a malevolent presence at the dinner table, poised like a black widow spider, cigarette in hand, ready to deliver a barbed comment (of which there are many) at any of the unfortunate family members round the table. There are times when you really feel for the woman and there are times that you just want to slap her, but she's a force of nature and it's another very impressive performance by one of the world's very best actresses.
Equally as good is Julia Roberts, who plays eldest daughter Barbara. Struggling with the breakdown of her own marriage to Bill (a quiet and studious Ewan McGregor) and dealing with a precocious teenage daughter (Abigail Breslin), Barbara clashes spectacularly with Violet and also becomes embroiled in the other dramas circling the Weston household as- inevitably- old secrets are revealed and age-old resentments come to the boil. It's a tough role but Roberts acquits herself perfectly in it.
Whilst Roberts and Streep have had the lion's share of the awards praise, each member of the ensemble cast is pitched perfect. This is high drama, heightened drama and every member of the main cast gets a moment to shine. It seems unfair to single any member out, as they all do such a sterling job. Julianne Nicholson and Juliette Lewis play the other two Weston daughters- Ivy and Karen- and there's a wonderful scene between the three sisters where a few surprising truths tumble out; Nicholson is just excellent as the mousy Ivy while Lewis is great as the slightly self-deluding Karen. There's a strong performance by Margo Martindale as Violet's sister Mattie Fae, another vicious-tongued harridan who hasn't got a good word to say for her own son Little Charles (Benedict Cumberbatch, playing against type as a nervy, anxious man with a secret love). Chris Cooper has some great scenes as de facto patriarch Charlie, particularly when he calls Mattie Fae out about her treatment of their son.
This is an adaptation of a play and feels like it- it never really slips from the stage origins. Apart from some brooding shots of the Oklahoma landscape, the action is focused on the actors and their performances. But that's OK. There doesn't need to be any visual tricks or gimmicks- the pyrotechnics here come from the words. Director John Wells has a strong grounding in directing for TV (having done episodes of ER and the US version of Shameless) and it shows. It's almost as if he's set the cameras up and let the actors get on with it, and when you have actors of this calibre, they will not disappoint.
Letts also wrote the plays Bug and Killer Joe (both have been filmed), both of which take a very bleak look at the world and human relations. The same is true here: there's precious little comfort here, people are- in some cases- unnecessarily cruel to one another, and the one glimpse of happiness is shot down in a shocking revelation which, for me, delivered an exquisite little gut-punch but might leave others cold. There has been so many other secrets revealed up to this point that it could be felt that another might overturn the apple-cart and launch the film into a place that's almost too ridiculous. But for me, it worked, even if it does rob the piece of a saving grace.
This will not be to everyone's tastes. It does present a very bleak view of the world and the people in it, that people are selfish and cruel and nasty to those they're supposed to love, and it's also got a rather downbeat view of family (Ivy states at one point that they're 'just people, accidentally connected by genetics') but it's wickedly funny in place- the script is alive with so many vicious one-liners, it's unreal- and the uniformally brilliant performances makes it shine.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Tez
Iconic director William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The French Connection) reunites with playwright Tracy Letts- after working together on the film version of Letts' play Bug (2006)- for the film version of Letts' 1993 play Killer Joe.
Drug dealer Chris (Emile Hirsch) needs money to pay a debt. Realising his mother Adele has a large life insurance policy which will pay out to his sister Dottie (Juno Temple), Chris, his father Ansel (Thomas Haden Church) and stepmother Sharla (Gina Gershon) conspire to have Adele killed and collect on the money. Into the frame comes Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a police officer with a sideline in contract killing. He will do the job- for a price. When Chris can't come up with the fee upfront, Joe agrees to a retainer- Dottie...
It's a molasses black comedy-drama which will virtually guarantee you never look at southern fried chicken in quite the same light again.
Performances are strong across the board. Perhaps surprisingly given past form (he didn't get the nickname Mahogany for nothing), Matthew McConaughey gives a (mostly) subtle, reptilian performance as the titular killer, only descending into a raging lunatic at the film's climax in which- to be fair- subtlety flies straight out of the window. Temple is outstanding as Dottie, a seemingly simple-minded girl who may not be as innocent as she first appears. Hirsch is as reliable as ever as Chris whilst Church and Gershon make for an entertaining double-act as a pair of trailer-trash rednecks.
There are a few decent plot twists which keep things interesting as the cast of grotesques cross and double-cross one another on the way to the orgy of violence and bloodshed which marks the film's final twenty minutes. It initially received the dreaded NC-17 rating in America (before surrendering that rating in October 2012 and thus becoming unrated) and an 18 certificate in the UK, and believe me, it's well deserved. There are protracted scenes of bloody violence and a sadistic streak a mile wide. Friedkin has stated "Cutting would not have made it mass appeal... To get an R rating, I would have had to destroy it in order to save it and I wasn't interested in doing that."
Lurid, dark and twisted, this slice of Southern Gothic won't be to everyone's tastes. I enjoyed it for the most part, even if the end does take us into WTF territory. You might need a strong stomach to get through it but there's a few guilty thrills to be had on the way.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Tez
