Lady Bird Review

It's 2002, and Christine McPherson (Saoirse Ronan), who goes by the name of Lady Bird, is a senior student in a Catholic high school in Sacramento California. She's started applying to colleges and is eager to attend one far away from home as possible, preferably on the east coast in New York much to her mother Marion's (Laurie Metcalf) dismay.

Lady Bird is not a likeable character, perpetually switching between being completely self-absorbed and spouting every single thought that comes into her head and profound philosopher beyond her years. Ronan is capable in the role but the writing borderlines on parody (and maybe that's the point), and Lady Bird's interactions also leave one wondering whether or not she may have a social disorder.

While the film focuses on Lady Bird's relationship with a number of characters it focuses on that of her mother Marion, which also suffers from a strange sense of polarising absurdity. One minute Marion is letting Lady Bird and her drunk friends raid the kitchen late on Thanksgiving night or picking Lady Bird up and consoling her after her regrettable de-flowering, the next, the pair are squabbling while clothes something, and in the final act scenes of the film aren't even talking at all. Laurie Metcalfe is solid as Marion, it would have been very easy for her to become the bad mother of the story, so it's too her testament that she remains relatable, if a little critical, which is more than can be said for Lady Bird. But again this polarity raises the question of parody so it's hard to know what you are seeing when you watch the film. Is this supposed to be a harsh and realistic portrayal of a mother daughter relationship? Or something more heightened for dramatic purposes?

Ultimately the film does pay off on Lady Bird's growth into a more stable and relatable woman, particularly in one scene where she makes the decision to leave her new popular friends who are ditching prom, to find her old friend Julie (Beanie Feldstein) and attend it with her. It doesn't feel particularly earned though, nor does her success in applying to schools after the minimal effort and distractions the film shows her having throughout.

Rating: 3/5