PREVIOUSLY: JACKBOOTS ON WHITEHALL
In 2003, as thirty-eight-year-old artist Oliver (Ewan McGregor) falls in love with an actress, Anna (Mélanie Laurent,) he remembers the relationships he shared with his deceased parents–especially his father, Hal (Christopher Plummer,) who came out as gay shortly before he died.
Oh, thank god, this was lovely. I desperately needed a movie like this, especially after the last one.
The events of this movie were apparently inspired by writer/director Mike Mills’s real life, and you can tell. It all felt incredibly earnest and authentic. Mills’s father came out as gay shortly after Mills’s mother died. The complicated feelings that must have come with that bombshell are portrayed with such clarity: The desire to love and accept your father for however much time he has left, while also recontextualizing what you thought you knew about your parents and their relationship, and being haunted over the unfairness that your father is living his best life now because your mother died in a loveless marriage. It’s beautiful and devastating.
The way it establishes snapshots in time felt so intentional. It was providing context for why people are the way they are and why they do the things they do, but it also felt like it was sharing memories. The film feels so generous. Oliver is sharing the story of the loves of his life with us.
Some of this I could personally relate to and some of it I couldn’t. I for sure felt the loneliness, self-sabotage, and fear of reliving your parents’ mistakes. I definitely cried a few times. (That Velveteen Rabbit quote about being loved the most when you’re old and worn out got me real good. It probably says something about me that the fucking Velveteen Rabbit was my favorite story for a while as a child. “The Sads” indeed.) I think there’s something here for most people. But I don’t think a lack of relatability will ruin the movie for you or anything. Like I said, it feels so open and personal. It’s clearly someone’s story, it doesn’t necessarily have to be your story.
As far as criticisms, I really only have one. As written, Anna falls a bit into the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope, especially when Oliver first meets her. But Mélanie Laurent plays her as so grounded, she still feels like a real person.
A tiny detail I noticed that delighted me was that the actor playing Young Oliver, Keegan Boos, had a tiny mole painted on beneath his right eye, to match Ewan McGregor’s. I’m extremely impressed with that level of attention to detail.
All of the actors are great. This is the role that finally won Christopher Plummer an Academy Award. But the real star of the movie is Cosmo the dog as Arthur. A consummate performer and a good boy. I’m obsessed with him. Subtitle humor is one of my favorite kinds of under-utilized comedy. I’m pretty much always delighted by it, and I can’t believe I’ve never seen a movie that has subtitles for a dog before. It was one of my favorite creative decisions of the film.
I can’t decide if the movie’s more happy or sad, or hopeful or not, but I think it’s some of all of those things and more. It’s one of the most authentic portrayals of love I’ve seen on screen in a very long time. It’s bittersweet but also comforting. It was absolutely beautiful.
What a breath of fresh air. I highly recommend this one. Movies like this are the reason I’m still doing this. It’s been so long since I stumbled across a lesser known gem that I wouldn’t have discovered on my own, but Beginners made the last mediocre-to-bad stretch worth it.
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