tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post3705960560981139497..comments2024-03-28T11:52:29.432-04:00Comments on Cockeyed Caravan: Best of 2017, #1: Lady BirdMatt Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07319984238456281734noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-41810645171362537082018-02-28T10:39:33.421-05:002018-02-28T10:39:33.421-05:00Some very good points. Getting out of scenes earl...Some very good points. Getting out of scenes early is so important. Matt Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07319984238456281734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-1487565554419678682018-02-28T10:18:58.235-05:002018-02-28T10:18:58.235-05:00The "jump out of the car" moment not onl...The "jump out of the car" moment not only let us know that this was a comedy in which it was okay to laugh and gave a trailer moment, not only did it establish the relationship between Lady Bird and her mother and show us who they were as people, but it also pulled off an important bit for realistic movies: front-load the crazy. If the loopiest part of the story happens right at the start and afterwards it's never that nuts again, we have no problem with it; if that scene happened in the middle of the movie, it would have felt jarring. Unless you had built it up to that point, which would make the first half a drag and the second half too hurried. <br /><br />And yeah, if you're going to tell a story about a relationship growing and maturing, it's best to start with flashy and ridiculous then gradually descend into the heartfelt and forgiving. <br /><br />Another part I appreciated is how Gerwig had the characters of Lady Bird and Marion demonstrated many of the same qualities but the parallels were never explicit or even all that obvious. They feel <i>related</i> but not clones, which is exactly right. They rhyme but they don't repeat.<br /><br />A surprise for me was the cutting short of scenes. The movie kept walking towards Big Meaty Actorly Scenes and then skipping past them to the outcomes. When Lady Bird goes to see Julie rather than go to the prom, Gerwig skips a lot of the heartfelt conversations you'd expect them to have and goes to them eating cheese. The priest who goes in for counseling was set up to be a major player but wasn't. You have a piece on here somewhere about the difference between important and newsworthy, and Gerwig followed that. We knew that Lady Bird and Julie would make up once LB showed up at the door. We don't need to see the actual reconciliation. Showing it would be an indulgence, a chance for actors to brew up Oscar clips of Big Acting. However, that would also have thrown off the feel of <i>Lady Bird</i>, making it feel Hollywood rather than, well, Sacramento.<br /><br />It's funny, though -- both <i>Lady Bird</i> and <i>The Big Sick</i> left me a little underwhelmed. Both are very good low-key movies that do what they set out to do, like "taut, efficient" thrillers, but they don't go beyond their subgenres. Both unspool exactly as you think they will. Their pleasures come from watching how they go through the expected steps. This isn't a dig. Still, the degree of critical praise feels a little overblown. I suspect it's partially relief at seeing very good low-key movies in the era of Superhero Mega-Splosion Fisticuffery. Harvey Jerkwaterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07118848012122050416noreply@blogger.com