Why can't you say I look nice?

LADY BIRD (2017)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

"Lady Bird" is an example of a near-great film that could've been expanded and fleshed out closer to a 2 hour feature than the 1 hour and thirty-five minutes we get. But why carp when you got redhead Saoirse Ronan as a misunderstood Catholic schoolgirl who can't seem to find her footing in her world - her character is one of the more unforgettable teenagers we have seen in movies in a while.

Saoirse Ronan dominates every second of "Lady Bird" as Christine McPherson, a Sacramento teen who expresses doubt about most everything, and it is implied that she has doubts about God. She centers most of her doubt on her domineering mother who works double shifts as a nurse, Marion McPherson (Laurie Metcalf), and who is so bluntly honest that she tells Christine she will never make it to any Ivy League school because, well, she is not smart enough. Christine's rebelliousness extends mostly to her moniker - she prefers everyone call her Lady Bird. She is very close to her unemployed father (Tracy Letts) - they have their secrets such as when he helps his daughter with college applications. Lady Bird spends most of her time smoking in bathrooms, performing pranks on nuns, and has a keen interest in a charmless, humorless musician (Timothée Chalamet) who would rather go to clubs than the prom. Ladybird's best friend is Julie (Beanie Feldstein) but eventually, and regrettably, she avoids Julie for the "Heathers"-like crowd of sexually active girls who speak of their sexuality openly. What draws Ladybird to this crowd is hard to say except she is still trying to find her own place.

I cannot dispense with enough positive praise about Saoirse Ronan (who was truly divine in the excellent 2015 drama "Brooklyn") - she not only embodies Christine, she gives her soul, panache, humor, an air of vulnerability and sometimes she is not easy to warm up to. Christine is only human and wishes for acceptance and some measure of approval yet getting it from her aloof mother (who proves *SPOILER ALERT* otherwise in one stunning scene) is a heavy, laborious task. But it is also Lady Bird's ability to be compassionate and accepting of others (even someone like the loser musician, or the theatre actor who turns out to be gay) that gives her character humanity. As I said years ago about another talented actress, Jennifer Lawrence, Ronan will be one of the greats if she is choosy with her projects. After "Brooklyn" and "Lady Bird," expect my optimism to be a reality.

I am just as doubly excited by Laurie Metcalf as Lady Bird's mother, Marion - it is a tricky role yet she is able to convey her own doubts about her daughter. You sense that she loves Lady Bird yet she doesn't want to see her get hurt - perhaps Marion had many more obstacles and imagined her life would work out differently. Either way, one of Metcalf's final scenes will leave you weeping.

"Lady Bird" is a coming-of-age comedy/drama yet it is adult in its reflective look at teenagers who are anxious about their next stage of development and tough-loving mothers who want the best for their children. Director Greta Gerwig ("Nights and Weekends") bestows an immediacy, a quirkiness and an intimacy rarely seen in most films. I have a feeling that if Gerwig and Ronan make another picture together, it will be every bit as good as "Lady Bird."