'Lady Bird' is a wondrous work of ART

Lady Bird (Saoirse Ronan) and Marion McPherson (Laurie Metcalf), Photo credit: Universal Pictures

Lady Bird is a mother-daughter love story of Christine and her mom Marion whose love-hate relationship mirrors anyone who spent their teenage years at their home with their meticulous mother.

Christine McPherson is a feisty teenager who is spending her last high school year in a Catholic school in Sacramento. She likes to call herself 'Lady Bird', a name given to her by her. She’s doing her best to stay out of her mom’s will of studying in city college as she instead aspires to go to one of New York City’s universities. Saoirse Ronan plays the titular role.

Lady Bird’s mom, played by the brilliant Laurie Metcalf, is a disciplined but loving mother whose language of affection to her daughter is not the most “affectionate”. Despite her simple “we missed you, Lady Bird” when Lady Bird did not spend her last Thanksgiving with them, and when Lady Bird was broken hearted and she insisted they do their “favorite” thing to do of going to rich and expensive houses at the right side of the tracks, she makes sure that Lady Bird stays disciplined and grounded as they have financial problems, thus, the city college. Lady Bird sees this as nitpicking and like any other child, she rants and answers back to her mom like an entitled brat. Still, we see them speak good about each other to other people even shortly after their fight. As Danny, one of Lady Bird’s boyfriend and eventual friend, said, her mom is scary and warm at the same time, and as Lady Bird’s father also explained, they both have such strong personalities, that they’re perfect to each other and imperfect at the same time.

This is a great achievement by Greta Gerwig—creating a simple and straightforward film that shoots several birds (Sacramento, Catholic school, mother-daughter, etc.) in one stone and yet its one that hits closest to home. It’s hilarious but its most lovable quality is its ability to tug one’s heartstrings. Gerwig, a great actress herself and the cowriter of Frances Ha, used nostalgia as her best tool in recreating the early years of 2000s where phones are bigger, buddha beads and chokers are in, and songs like Justin Timberlake’s Cry Me a River and Dave Matthews’ Band’s Crash Into Me are great hits. Who predicted that a song about stalking can be an anthem for best friends?

This is also driven by one epic ensemble—Tracy Letts, Beanie Feldstein, Odeya Rush, Timothee Chalamét and Lucas Hedges who both are having a banner year, and of course, Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf. Ronan’s Lady Bird is another iconic character already encrypted as one of her best iconic characters even after fifty years in her career. I never thought she could outshine her unforgettable breakout as Briony in Atonement, and then Brooklyn happened in which she had an amazing turn as a mature actress, then here comes Lady Bird making her truly one of the most exciting actresses of her generation. Meanwhile, it’s Metcalf’s dramatics that pulled me so deep into the film. Her nuanced comedic expressions are great but her strict and motherly visage is what makes her the heart of the film. The airport scene when she’s driving away and starts to break down as Lady Bird is about to depart to New York is one of my favorites in a film filled with comedic and heartwarming scenes. It’s so touching and I felt the grief of a mother who’s trying to be strong for herself and for her daughter. It is very reminiscent of Patricia Arquette in Boyhood.

Lady Bird a wondrous work of art, and I fell in love with it. One of my favorite films ever.