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#629 - Beginners
Mike Mills, 2010
An anachronic tale of a man learning that his father is not only gay but also dying of a terminal illness.
For the most part, Beginners feels pretty standard for a quasi-independent dramedy. The protagonist (Ewan McGregor) learns that his recently widowed father (Christopher Plummer) has actually been in the closet the whole time that he was married, which leads to him immediately becoming very active in the LGBT community and taking on a much younger lover (Goran Višnjić). This is followed up very quickly by the revelation that Plummer has also contracted a malignant tumour that is slowly but surely threatening to kill him. The story mainly jumps back and forth between three different time periods; McGregor's childhood, his time with his ailing father, and also during his burgeoning relationship with a young woman (Mélanie Laurent). Juggling a number of anachronic narratives featuring McGregor is a bit of a gamble but it pays off just fine. This much is borne out by the repetitive use of motifs such as McGregor describing various time periods by referencing certain period-appropriate characteristics such as U.S. presidents and the changing of certain social norms.
There's nothing overly objectionable about the ways in which Beginners goes about delivering its narrative. The film ends up being middle-of-the-road despite its more experimental juxtapositions of different time periods in concurrence with McGregor's artistic sensibilities. It's also pretty standard as far as the filming techniques go. As such, Beginners' main strength becomes about its actors. Plummer understandably won an Oscar for his work here as he willfully embraces the various nuances of his Oscar-baiting character, conveying his character's highs and lows with equal aplomb. McGregor makes for a significant source of gravitas as a frequently conflicted protagonist even as he deals with various issues not just when it comes to his father's deteriorating condition but also through his difficulties in relating to Laurent (who is herself a very capable performer whose character gets her own difficult back-story). The technique on display is pretty straightforward when it's not indulging frequent time-shifts or expository montages, but it is said time-shifts and montages that give the film some personality. Beginners is ultimately a pretty decent example of an indie with some good performances (especially from the dog who serves as Plummer's pet) and also manages to prove tolerable despite its occasional concessions to quirk (such as the dog silently being subtitled as if he is responding to McGregor).
Mike Mills, 2010
An anachronic tale of a man learning that his father is not only gay but also dying of a terminal illness.
For the most part, Beginners feels pretty standard for a quasi-independent dramedy. The protagonist (Ewan McGregor) learns that his recently widowed father (Christopher Plummer) has actually been in the closet the whole time that he was married, which leads to him immediately becoming very active in the LGBT community and taking on a much younger lover (Goran Višnjić). This is followed up very quickly by the revelation that Plummer has also contracted a malignant tumour that is slowly but surely threatening to kill him. The story mainly jumps back and forth between three different time periods; McGregor's childhood, his time with his ailing father, and also during his burgeoning relationship with a young woman (Mélanie Laurent). Juggling a number of anachronic narratives featuring McGregor is a bit of a gamble but it pays off just fine. This much is borne out by the repetitive use of motifs such as McGregor describing various time periods by referencing certain period-appropriate characteristics such as U.S. presidents and the changing of certain social norms.
There's nothing overly objectionable about the ways in which Beginners goes about delivering its narrative. The film ends up being middle-of-the-road despite its more experimental juxtapositions of different time periods in concurrence with McGregor's artistic sensibilities. It's also pretty standard as far as the filming techniques go. As such, Beginners' main strength becomes about its actors. Plummer understandably won an Oscar for his work here as he willfully embraces the various nuances of his Oscar-baiting character, conveying his character's highs and lows with equal aplomb. McGregor makes for a significant source of gravitas as a frequently conflicted protagonist even as he deals with various issues not just when it comes to his father's deteriorating condition but also through his difficulties in relating to Laurent (who is herself a very capable performer whose character gets her own difficult back-story). The technique on display is pretty straightforward when it's not indulging frequent time-shifts or expository montages, but it is said time-shifts and montages that give the film some personality. Beginners is ultimately a pretty decent example of an indie with some good performances (especially from the dog who serves as Plummer's pet) and also manages to prove tolerable despite its occasional concessions to quirk (such as the dog silently being subtitled as if he is responding to McGregor).