Lady Bird is an awful movie. If you think Juno has contrived dialogue, imagine the opposite: it seems that while Juno put too much thought into the writing, the writer/director of Ladybird put too little. It's so pointless and there's no hearty nostalgia to back it up. Everyone feels one dimensional, even when they change their minds. Everything feels flat and you see coming a mile away. There's nothing I can think of that makes the eventful moments of high school feel so uneventful, so I suppose that's an accomplishment. Saoirse Ronan's accent feels deliberately imitative of Lindsay Lohan, which isn't bad but isn't in any way natural. It feels contrived and like she's trying to be petulant when she doesn't have to be; even the character's flatlining doesn't make it worth her portrayal's brattiness. The bizarre, one-note reference to the Bay area slang "hella" is so off that it feels like no one, including the director/writer, is from the area, even though it seems she is.
The father, portrayed by Tracy Letts, is so lovable, and probably the most well-rounded character of all. I feel Laurie Metcalf was underutilized here, and could have delivered so much more than a struggling, emotionally repressed and still aggressive character. The scene in which she "emerges" as being emotional is so contrived you want to roll your eyes.
There's only so much to stomach, and I can say that within 30 minutes I thought it was almost over; it drags that much. As I said, where Juno is contrived, Lady Bird is lazy, and droning, and drowns out the growth and aging of adolescence.
The father, portrayed by Tracy Letts, is so lovable, and probably the most well-rounded character of all. I feel Laurie Metcalf was underutilized here, and could have delivered so much more than a struggling, emotionally repressed and still aggressive character. The scene in which she "emerges" as being emotional is so contrived you want to roll your eyes.
There's only so much to stomach, and I can say that within 30 minutes I thought it was almost over; it drags that much. As I said, where Juno is contrived, Lady Bird is lazy, and droning, and drowns out the growth and aging of adolescence.