LADY BIRD (2017) *** ½

I’d watch just about anything Greta Gerwig was in.  It’s only fitting that I’d also see this too, her solo directing debut, even though she doesn’t appear in it.  As far as teenage coming of age stories go, this is one of the best in recent memory.

Christine (Saoirse Ronan) is a plucky teenage girl who attends Catholic School and insists on being called “Lady Bird”.  As she swims back and forth between social statuses at school, she tries to decide where to go to college.  Her mother (Laurie Metcalf) thinks she should hedge her bets and go to a local college, but Lady Bird, longing to leave Sacramento, secretly applies to some New York schools in hopes of escaping her hometown and eventually finding herself.

I can’t be sure about how much of the film is autobiographical for Gerwig (one look at her IMDB profile and you can spot some definite similarities), but Ronan captures a few of her mannerisms and the rhythm of her speech rather closely.  She does a terrific job at creating a realistic, flawed human character, and not a tired, cliched one that you’d see in most of these things.  Part of that is a testament to Gerwig’s writing, which is often hilarious.  (The awkward school assembly scene is the highpoint of the movie and is the best awkward school assembly scene since Donnie Darko.)  She also has a knack for painting vignettes of hometown life that are universal.  I’m sure there are a few scenes here that will hit close to home with many viewers, and it’s that pang of recognition that makes the film work.

The supporting performances are equally stellar.  You can probably start up the Oscar buzz for Metcalf as Lady Bird’s nagging (but sometimes, rightfully so) mother.  The scenes of her dishing out the tough love to Lady Bird will probably ring true for parents and children alike.  Tracy Letts does a great job as the Good Cop parent who always has a kind word or at least a few bucks for his daughter, even if he’s financially (and emotionally) struggling.  Manchester by the Sea’s Lucas Hedges delivers another realistic, three-dimensional performance as Lady Bird’s first love.

Gerwig hews a little too close to the usual teenage high school movie formula in some scenes.  There aren’t many surprising revelations here, but then again, this is coming from (someone who grudgingly refers to himself as) a grown-up.  I’ve already lived through this shit.  For the younger viewers out there, Lady Bird will assuredly hit home for them.  I’m sure a lot of likeminded teenage girls will see a little bit of themselves in the title character.