'Lady Bird' Review: A Beautiful Coming Of Age Story!

9.1/10

Portraying a likable rebel is a hard thing to do on screen. You have to set up why they are the way they are, and still be able to give them fleeting moments of empathy or just go all the way with no regrets whatsoever. Lady Bird takes a succesful stab at finding the balance from first time director Greta Gerwig in a relatively conservative way, but does a lot to make her stand out in this hilarious coming of age story.

Lady Bird (Saoirse Ronan) is Catherine McPherson's given alias when she becomes bored and fed up of living her familiar life while in a Catholic High School in Sacramento. Her new persona makes her become more wandering, naturally gravitating to many different things and the dream of feeling more like herself, or rather finding herself in a New York college away from home.

Saoirse Ronan does a great job as a rebellious yet empathetic teenager as her angst does feel like it comes from a genuine place. What I've always had issues in the past from coming of age films is they make the teenagers problems feel self inflicted, but instead her character is coming more from a place of needing to explore more in life. The director also gives a lot of great snappy dialogue with all the characters, which in turn creates some truly hilarious moments.

As for faults, there aren't really any, there more nitpicks within the films wings. While the film has a great first and third act, the second act has a couple of dragging moments but it's not often or super noticeable. Some of the films strongest points are around the outer shell and are mostly the scenes that include both Lady Bird and her Mother, Laurie Metcalf, the way they bounce off of each other is impeccable, it makes the experience feel tangible.

Lady Bird doesn't reinvent the wheel of coming of age stories, however it does move with a lot of charm. Saoirse is great in the lead role, that, mixed with a really strong script and your on a ride with a character learning from their mistakes, understanding how their actions affect others and realising there's no place like home.