Pop art meets wistful autobiography in Beginners, the second feature-length film by Mike Mills, the noted artist, graphic designer, and music video director (he's collaborated with, among others, Air, Blonde Redhead, and Pulp). Mills is represented in the film by Oliver, an artist played by Ewan McGregor.

The film, presented out of chronological order, shows Oliver at three key times in his life. In 2003, his father, Hal (Christopher Plummer), has just passed away after a struggle with cancer. This is a few years after Hal, following the death of his long-term wife and well into his seventies, came out of the closet and began a relationship with a younger man (Goran Visnjic). We also see Oliver as a child, observing his parents' troubled marriage and interacting with his enigmatic, saucy mother (Mary Page Keller).

The other significant character is Anna (Mélanie Laurent), a French actress whom Oliver meets at a costume party in 2003 and begins a tentative relationship with, one based on mutual sadness and distrust of the very concept of sustained happiness.

Mills' first feature, Thumbsucker with Keanu Reeves and Tilda Swinton, was a small, odd delight, but he's improved a great deal since. Perhaps this material, dealing with tough issues (death, sexuality) in such a personal way, inspired him to achieve a new level of mastery. Beginners is a film with a lot on its mind, a stellar cast, and style to spare.

Ewan McGregor's potent screen presence (and general coolness) is never in doubt, but too often in America it is squandered in films--Deception, Angels & Demons--very much beneath him. Not so in Beginners. This might be his most nuanced and sensitive performance ever or at least since he rose to fame in Trainspotting fifteen years ago. Christopher Plummer, too, is fantastic. He fills his every scene with ample energy, warmth, and vim as an man in the twilight of life deciding, screw it, he's ready to at long last live his life as he sees fit. An iconic veteran of the screen and stage, Plummer has never won an Oscar; this could definitely be the vehicle to snare him the long-overdue prize. It's a performance as courageous as it is colorful. And the beautiful Mélanie Laurent, whom audiences will remember as the star of Inglourious Basterds, projects an equal blend of warmth and hurt as love interest Anna.

Mills has perfectly structured this film, so perfectly it often doesn't feel structured at all. Instead it plays as a series, a waterfall, of memories, as if the audience is inside Oliver's (Mills') head as he reflects on his own life and culture at large. At times two moments will align with elegant intent--a scene in 2003 will trigger a memory or a flashback will shed new light on a prior scene--and at other times the film goes on seeming tangents, but even at its most dreamy/kooky (Jack Russell Terrier subtitles!) Beginners feels natural and correct. This is a film so appealing, so rich and warm and creatively made, you want to follow it wherever it may lead.

Mills' flair for design is felt throughout. There's a wonderful (self-reflexive) comic subplot in which Oliver draws and writes enormous liner notes chronicling the "history of sadness" for a band's new album, much to their chagrin because they only commissioned him to draw a portrait of each band member.

A lot of films this year, including Jodie Foster's largely ignored The Beaver and Terrence Malick's epic The Tree of Life, have explored relationships between parents and children, particularly the way childhood's pleasures and traumas shape us, and Beginners is yet another fine addition to the club. The union of Oliver's parents began with two acts of self-denial: his father buried his inherent gayness, his mother her Judaism. This, of course, drove a wedge between them and, in turn, Oliver, raised on their cold morning-farewell kisses and his mother's barely obscured volcanic emotions, can't help but be cynical of love.

Though we don't learn as many details of her past, it is suggested Anna has parent-derived concerns of her own, including a hopeless father who calls throughout the day and night to discuss his suicidal urges with her. (Their hesitant, intense, meaningful courtship reminded me of Greenberg's "hurt people hurt people" mantra, and Beginners arrives at a similar conclusion--maybe, just maybe, they can also heal each other.)

This is an undeniable gem. It's such a small film, but its heart is incredibly large. It's overflowing with fine performances and moments of utter clarity, sharp humor, and heartrending drama.

A

I can't say as I liked the movie Beginners.

The whole thing is archness.

...and I dig archness - - but it needs to be balanced just so, or that archness crumbles and collapses - - and sadly, that is the case here.

Actors were fine - - the problem lies with writer/director Mike Mills. He juggled the timelines and emotionlines one too many times in his misguided fervor. (...don't think I'm a hater either, because I was probably the biggest fan of his 2005 masterpiece: Thumbsucker.)

Yep - - Beginners implodes with the sharp granite whine of substandard engineering.


2 out of 5.

This felt like a high school play directed by the most emo member of the drama club. It's dull, the heavy-handedness feels as subtle as a mallet to the head, and it's one hell of a chore to sit through.

*½ (C-)

The dog was the best thing about it.

How wrong both you and Bradley are. So, so wrong.

Oh, wow. I might faint.

Glad you enjoyed it.

It's pretty beautiful, a sad little poem based more on mood and atmosphere than story or character. It distinctly reminded me of A Single Man, although I didn't love it that much. Altogether a very interesting, unusual, sweet flick.

A-

I can't understand those people who didn't enjoy this movie. It was wonderful. Great writing, great characters played by even better actors, all the emotional moments were very natural, nothing felt forced...it just worked on every level for me. The audience I saw it with clearly had a blast with this movie too, and it makes all the difference.

Melanie Laurent has to be one of the most beautiful women alive. Her character here is so lovable, and she sparks up a real chemistry with McGregor. This actress is bound for great things.

One of the more disappointing films of the year. It's a "nice" enough movie, but honestly it wasn't very involving. It moves at a snails pace, and I'm someone who has no problem with slower films if they're interesting. And at times it is, moreso in the second half than the first, but just not enough. The performances are fine. Enjoyed McGregor, Laurent, and Plummer. I certainly didn't hate the film, but just thought it was fairly mediocre overall and at times a bit of a chore to sit through.

6/10 (B-)

You are crazy.

I liked it quite a bit, especially due to its inclusion of archival footage and use of montage in order to represent the jumpy, scattered feel of memory. The non-linear narrative also contributes to this, as the film's progression is more motivated by wisps of thought and emotion than plot or even character development (at least not in the traditional sense). It's actually a rather unconventional film in this way, despite its appearance as just another indie romcom.

And of course, the actors are all terrific. I want to marry Mélanie Laurent.

yep