First Take: Lady Bird- fly away for Oscar glory

SYNOPSIS: In 2002, an artistically inclined
seventeen-year-old girl comes of age in Sacramento, California.

This film has been arguably one of the most anticipated to
open during the awards season- and now that it is FINALLY out in most cinemas
in the UK, I can proclaim this about Lady Bird: we have one last underdog for
the big awards during Sunday night’s Oscars.

Greta Gerwig writes and directs this beautifully, and
clocking in at a tight 93 minutes, this film gets the job done incredibly well,
with the right pacing and emotional subtlety to create one of the best coming
of age stories I’ve seen on the big screen for a very long time. Combine this
brilliant storytelling with Sam Levy’s fantastic cinematography, and a basic
but super effective score from Jon Brion, and you have some of the most
gripping pieces of cinema that has been made in years, and a plot that
audiences both young and old can truly engage with.

Performance wise, this is once again an outstanding effort
from Saiorse Ronan, and while the accent does falter at points, it’s hard to
notice when she’s with a great supporting cast, especially Timothee Chalamet,
Beanie Feldstein and a familiar face for Big Bang Theory fans in the form of Laurie Metcalf- but
seriously though, this cast are fantastic throughout, and it’s easy to get drawn
into the story. It’s just a shame that not everywhere are able to program this
film for a few screenings- so film buyers, do your thing.

THE VERDICT

Lady Bird is not only heartwarming, but also tells a very
relatable story to the majority of audiences, and while not every cinema is set
to get it, if it wins anything on Sunday night it thoroughly deserves it. Greta
Gerwig really has made a solo directorial debut that packs a punch.

RATING: 5/5