Film Review: Lady Bird is funny, sensitive and real

Winner of the 75^th Golden Globe Award for Best Musical or Comedy Motion Picture, and nominated for an Oscar , Lady Bird is the coming-of-age tale of a teenager who dreams big but is fenced in by a strong mother. The movie marks the directorial debut of actress Greta Gerwig, who has previously starred in movies like Greenburg, Mistress America and Francis Ha.

Set in the early 2000s, 17-year-old Christine McPherson is anything but content with her life in Sacramento, California. A senior in a Catholic high school, Christine struggles against her mother’s overbearing affection supported by her doting, out-of-work father. Her dilemma reminds viewers of a time where many of us are ready to graduate school and begin our lives with nothing holding us back. And more than anything, Christina wants to break free. Her dreams are New York but her reality is Sacramento.

The final year of high school, where many of us are aimless and desperate for some guidance, ready to test our wings and fly, a movie like Lady Bird comforts all of us. It assures us that we are not alone. No matter how rejected or clueless we are, the shared experience binds us together. Love can be seen explored in many forms. Be it her relationship or her friend Julie or even the city where she lives. But the fulcrum is the mother-daughter relationship.

The simplicity with which debutant director Greta Gerwig instils emotions in the most regular characters without reducing them to stereotypes is remarkable. Great Gerwig’s writing navigates love across various territories. When Lady Bird’s love interest brings up the on-going Iraq war to remind her not to exaggerate her minor troubles, she wittily retorts, “Different things can be sad. It’s not all war.”

It’s interesting to see how Lady Bird gradually grows to understand the love of her mother, best friend, and her partner. Overturning clichés, Lady Bird reminds us, sensitively and with humour, of the importance of our relationships.

By: Cherryy Chauhan