Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges, Timothée Chalameth, Beanie Feldstein, Lois Smith, Stephen Henderson, Odeya Rush, Jordan Rodrigues, Marielle Scott, John Karna, Jake McDorman, Laura Marano.
The name that you call yourself is the promise that you make to stay individual, to stand out perhaps in the town where everybody knows your business, to put a stamp of your own authority and control on a part of life that either has you placed down as a trouble maker or as a romanticised character.
The name you call yourself is important, but remembering your past is sacrosanct, no matter where you come from, your given name is the one that you revert back to when there is nothing left to rebel against, and who better to revolt in life but the teenager to whom life has landed the cruellest blow, not being old enough to make their own decisions legally but to whom, in their mind or otherwise, is the most logical and sanest person to make such life changing pronouncements.
In Greta Gerwig’s solo directorial outing, Lady Bird, the sense of identity is one of overpowering thought, one that is captured with expert acting precision by the charming and industrious Saoirse Ronan. It is not difficult to see why Ms. Ronan was cast in such a role but when you place her on screen against the versatile Laurie Metcalfe and the sublime Tracy Letts, add the beauty of a coming of age story set against the realism of the age and not the fantasy that surrounds many films in the same category, then it is too Ms. Ronan that the camera falls for and in which the audience revels.
Escapism is a perfect way to while away the time, but for many it comes with the heavy price of never being able to fulfil their dreams, or if they do then they forget what it was drove them in the first place; those corners of a local road which seem dull for many years, somehow take on a new appearance in your dreams when you are taken away from them. Lady Bird encapsulates that urge for freedom, to explore, but also the pull of what we leave behind, we can all dream at 16 of finding our way to America, to New York and seeing life in a new and possibly vibrant way, we can all see the way to become more than the name we choose for ourselves, and yet the world is split between those that seek out a new moniker and the adventure of change and those that are happy to stay forever, grow old and leave a masterpiece of family behind.
A wonderful directorial debut, a great story and one well realised from start to finish, Lady Bird sings to the soul that you hope you possess.
Ian D. Hall