Engineered Criticism

You know, of the movies of 2017, the two that surprised me the most were I, Tonya , on which I will likely write next, and, of course, Lady Bird, the coming of age story directed, written, and loosely based on the life of Greta Gerwig. Lady Bird, despite what people seem to expect, has nothing to do with Lady Bird Johnson. Instead, it follows Lady Bird McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) as she progresses through her senior year of high school, looking to the future, toward college, and toward some sense of freedom. It’s a story that nearly all of us can relate to, to some extent. A sense of wanderlust, a sense of wanting something bigger and better for ourselves, wanting to at least discover what we want. And all the while trying to figure a bunch of other shit out. Lady Bird treats its characters and its situations with so much tenderness, showing their flaws and shortcomings just alongside their best aspects. The dialogue is beautifully done, coming across with a genuineness un...