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