Lady Bird (2017)

No, it's not about Claudia Alta Johnson. We never do learn how the protagonist (Saoirse Ronan) chose her nickname, tho I wouldn't be surprised if she, an apparent leftist, meant to honor the Democratic first lady. The important thing is that she refuses to go by her birth name, Christine, because she wants to assert her own identity.

I'd say Lady Bird is above average for 12th-grade rebelliousness, especially by Catholic school standards (she snacks on unconsecrated communion wafers, for example). Fed up with her hometown of Sacramento and California in general, she wants to go to college in New York City. Alas, her family is low on finances, so getting her mom (Laurie Metcalf) to agree is a challenge. In truth, getting her mom to agree on anything is a challenge.

I think one strength of this movie is in showing that both sides of that overarching conflict have a point. I'm not sure who really started it, but I'd put the greater burden on the parent, because she should be the more mature. What she gives is a mix of fairly good and borderline appalling moments.

As the movie squeezes in a whole school year, we get a pretty rapid view of other things going on in Lady Bird's life. She runs for class president without expecting to win. She tries theater. She takes interest in a new friend at the expense of an old one. She dates two very different boys (in sequence, no two-timing), neither of whom is quite right for her. And her father (Tracy Letts) has unfortunate news.

The setting is 2002 to 2003, which makes little difference from the present apart from the soundtrack and Lady Bird hoping that NYC schools have gotten cheaper and less selective after 9/11. This, along with the odd element of two foster siblings of dubious relevance, got me suspecting an adaptation from another medium, most likely reality. Turns out writer and first-time solo director Greta Gerwig based it very loosely on her past, with no precise matches to real events, just a familiar feel. She wanted something like a feminine Boyhood, albeit with 1/12 the time frame.

Credible? Well, yes. It's well acted in general, not least by Metcalf. I won't endorse the dialog, but it's not far-fetched either. The trouble stems in part from the aforementioned rapidity, preventing monotony but providing little chance of viewer immersion. We believe it in the abstract, not deeply, because it rarely gets past a thin surface. This may also tie into a low amount of emotion overall: The drama is only occasionally intense, and few comedic lines got halfway substantial chuckles at my theater.

I admit that the rest of my Meetup group, in addition to most critics, left more enthused about the film than I did. It probably helps if you relate better to Lady Bird than I do. I was never much of a teen rebel, so I scorn a number of her moves. At the same time, I should warn those who do like her that way that she changes in the final act. Are we to take it as a fable, then? If so, I call the resolution too little, too late, and my final verdict is "average."

LB might get an Oscar or two. I'll hold out for an award bait picture with a more original premise.