It is of the utmost importance that everyone reading this goes to see Lady Bird. The new Greta Gerwig movie, starring Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf, hit theaters on November 3, and has already racked up a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, joining movies like Get Out in terms of universal adoration. It tells the story of Lady Bird (whose real name is Christine, but don't call her that), played by Ronan, and her fraught relationship with her mother (Metcalf) as she approaches graduation and yearns to burst out of Sacramento for the greener pastures she envisions on the east coast. It's warm and heartbreaking and hilarious and relatable and nostalgic all at once. It will take you back to high school, and you'll actually miss it.
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But you don't have to believe me, or even Rotten Tomatoes. Just listen to the experts, who also can't get enough of this film, as the movies slides in just in time to be my favorite of 2017.
From The New York Times:
"The script is exceptionally well-written, full of wordplay and lively argument. Every line sounds like something a person might actually say, which means that the movie is also exceptionally well acted...I wish I could convey to you just how thrilling this movie is. I wish I could quote all of the jokes and recount the best offbeat bits...I’ll settle for one: the bittersweet feeling of having watched someone grow in front of your eyes, into a different and in some ways improved version of herself. In life, that’s a messy, endless process, which is one reason we need movies. Or to put it another way, even though Lady Bird will never be perfect, Lady Bird is."
From Variety:
"Treating each of its characters with respect no how small their parts, Gerwig’s script derives much of its comedy from the nun-run Eternal Flame school (where Lady Bird’s grades aren’t that good, and she has no lasting hobbies to speak of), and to a lesser degree, her friendship woes and romantic disappointments. While nowhere near as sassy as Diablo Cody nor as self-assured as Lena Dunham, Lady Bird comes from a fundamentally genuine place."
From Vulture:
"Her Lady Bird is big, at times theatrical, but there’s no eye-rolling or face-pulling, no mixing up the character’s exhibitionism with her depth of feeling. Ronan’s accent is American, but there’s Irish in her rhythms, in the way she drives her lines home and turns every full stop into an ellipsis, a fierce demand for more....A final sequence in New York is so inspired that I’d call for a sequel if that weren’t so dully de rigueur these days. In the case of Lady Bird, enough is enough — in fact, nearly perfect."
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The Ringer calls it the "kind of movie you want to keep watching," the Wall Street Journal says you'll "want to give thanks for how wonderful it is," and Rolling Stone refers to the film as a "perfect movie." But you can see for yourself. Lady Bird is in theaters now.