Lady Bird (2017)

IMDb plot summary: In 2002, an artistically inclined seventeen-year-old girl comes of age in Sacramento, California.
Directed by Greta Gerwig. Starring Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, and Lucas Hedges.

I went into this movie really, really ready to love it. And then I ran into an unexpected wall. I think coming-of-age stories in some way only work if you have a point of connection with the character coming of age, and as much as Lady Bird apparently resonates with my entire generation... she doesn't with me. Every other character in her world does. I would instantly watch a movie all about her mother, or her best friend, or her first boyfriend, or any of the teachers at her school, or the snobby girl who becomes her friend. But in this world of interesting and nuanced characters, Lady Bird seems... flat. I have always felt a great deal of distance from Greta Gerwig as an actress, a practiced insincerity that completely cuts me off from her emotionally. I feel like this same distance surrounds the central character. And when you don't buy into the central character in this type of movie, it gets really difficult to give a crap about their coming-of-age arc when really you just want to know how Lady Bird's parents got together or what happens when her gay friend does come out to his parents. I guess we can confirm that Greta Gerwig and I are on two totally different wavelengths. It saddens me, because I so badly wanted to love this and at best I can credit it for a great cast of side characters.

2.5 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Lady Bird > Hitchcock
Lady Bird < Mad Max: Fury Road
Lady Bird < The Majestic
Lady Bird < Nothing in Common
Lady Bird < True Grit (1969)
Lady Bird > The Whole Nine Yards
Lady Bird < The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Lady Bird > Dirty Dancing
Lady Bird > The Switch
Lady Bird > Splash
Lady Bird > The Matador

Final spot: #1355 out of 2842.