Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Lucas Hedges, Laurie Metcalfe, Tracy Letts

What’s it all about?
Lady Bird is a teenage girl who attends a Catholic school, but does not appear to have any strong religious beliefs. Like a lot of teenagers, she is trying to find herself. She has given herself the name ‘Lady Bird’ in order to assert her individuality, but it never really has any kind of pay off, other than as an example of her quirky personality.

She meets a boy at drama class and falls for him, but when he betrays her, she breaks off the relationship. She then meets another boy, but Lady Bird ends it when she discovers he has lied about his virginity (or lack thereof).

Ultimately, Lady Bird (superficially, at least) plays out a little like Juno, but at a slower pace and with less of the humour, and it turns out not to be about her blossoming sexuality at all. Instead, it is about the fractious relationship Lady Bird has with her mother, and how they eventually come together – not in an obvious or saccharine way, but through the subtlety of good performances and a solid script.

Watching it with the kids…
There’s a fair amount of bad language in here, including usage of the dreaded C-bomb, so stay away if that word scares you. There’s no naked skin to be seen, except for on the pages of a magazine, and there’s no violence either.

Verdict…
Lady Bird never really goes anywhere, which is not to say that it is a bad movie, just that it’s not a very exciting one. I can’t work up too much enthusiasm for it, but then again, such an emphatic reaction would be contrary to what this movie has presented over the last hour and a half anyway. It’s not going to get your blood pumping, but it is a well written and competently acted slice of drama. I think you really have to be in the right mood to watch and appreciate it, and perhaps when I sat down in front of the TV, I just wasn’t. Having said that, I still recognise what it brings to the table, so with that in mind…

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