Lady Bird (2017) * * *

Directed by:  Greta Gerwig

Starring:  Saorise Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges, Beanie Feldstein, Timothee Chamalet, Stephen McKinley Henderson

If the first half of Lady Bird were as real, truthful, and absorbing as the second half, we would have a miracle here.    The opening scenes contain so many quick cuts we can never establish our emotional footing.    The movie is in too big a hurry to go someplace.     But, then it slows down and draws out the uniqueness of its characters.    We grow to love them for all of their faults and unexpressed emotions.    The family depicted in Lady Bird feels real, which is based on aspects of writer-director Greta Gerwig's teenage life.     The people are depicted lovingly, even if like most families, its members can grate on your nerves from time to time.

The Lady Bird of the title is 17-year-old Catholic high school senior Christine (Ronan), who demands to be called Lady Bird because, like many teens, she is looking to stand out from the crowd in some way.    By wanting to stand out from the crowd, she feels as ordinary, insecure, and afraid as everyone else, so Lady Bird is hardly unique.    Her strained relationship with her mother Marion (Metcalf) is not unique for many teens that age.    The two butt heads because they are probably more alike than they realize, but don't even attempt to suggest that to either party. 

Lady Bird tries out for the school musical, but only manages a small part in the chorus.    She falls for the lead actor, a nice guy named Danny (Hedges) who, if we didn't know better, one would assume is gay.   There are vibes.    Lady Bird's best friend is the portly Julie (the lovable Feldstein), but in a short time Lady Bird befriends the school's popular kids and leaves Julie in the dust.    Lady Bird is nowhere near as unique as she thinks she is, no matter what she dubs herself.    Marion and her recently unemployed father Larry (Letts) want her to go to a college closer to home for financial reasons.    Lady Bird wants to go to school in New York, mostly because it isn't Sacramento, which she dubs "the Midwest of California".    Maybe, maybe not, but there sure aren't any movie stars hanging around.

Lady Bird's second half is much more engrossing than the first half, which seems to be racing towards some sort of finish line we can't see.    Saorise Ronan, as she displayed in Brooklyn (2015), is the picture of youthful intelligence mixed with a dash of naivete.   She is stunned to learn she lost her virginity to a guy who lost his years ago.    She assumed, for whatever reason, he was also a virgin.    Isn't that how it is supposed to work?     Ronan is capable of expressing plenty of enchanting dualities, such as love/hate relationship with her family, her home, Sacramento, and just about everything else.    The more insecure Lady Bird feels, the more we want to hug her.   Not every actress can accomplish that.

As Lady Bird's parents, veterans Metcalf and Letts find just the right notes.   Larry is more or less stable despite being out of work, while Marion shoulders the breadwinning responsibilities and her awkward relationship with her headstrong daughter.    Metcalf's final scene at the Sacramento airport is so riveting and true, it is enough to land Metcalf a deserved Oscar nomination.     Letts' calm and more friendly relationship with Lady Bird provides a nice counterpart to Metcalf's passive-aggressive volatility.

I was so involved by the time the movie ended, I wish it tacked on another fifteen minutes, or at least dispensed with some of the earlier scenes.     The finished product is one which redeems itself as it goes along, but I left the theater glad that I saw the film, while almost regretting how great it could have been.