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Three Thanksgiving Weekend Films Worth Seeing
by Sandra Olmsted
Lady Bird
While most coming of age films aren’t very compelling because the subject matter doesn’t resonate with a board audience, director Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird provides a look at making changes and find one’s self with which many can identify. In 2002, Christine aka Lady Bird (Saoirse Ronan), a high school senior, is ready to live and can’t wait to leave home for college. The only problem is her family’s financial situation is difficult, and Lady Bird’s options are limited. As she sets out to experience as much living a possible, especially boys and parties, she enlists the help of her father Larry (Tracy Letts) to apply for East coast art schools as far away from her Sacramento, California home as possible. Lady Bird’s difficult relationship with her mother, Marion (Laurie Metcalf), provides the main conflict in the film. Marion, a nurse, holds the family together by working as many shifts as she can, which complicates the already strained relationship between her and Lady Bird. Although one of the teaching nuns at Lady Bird’s Catholic high school suggests that Lady Bird loves her home town, Lady Bird deeply feelings she needs to escape to become her own person. Gerwig delicately and precisely explores the difficult relationship between mothers and daughters with a singular cinematic voice in this her directorial debut. Lady Bird is well worth seeing for the carefully crafted humor and pathos and the stunning acting; this A24 release is rated R for language, sexual content, brief graphic nudity and teen partying and runs well paced 93 minute. In theaters now.
Last Flag Flying
Director Richard Linklater’s Last Flag Flying focuses on the loss that war inevitably brings through former Navy Corps medic Larry “Doc” Shepherd (Steve Carell), who must bury his son, a young Marine killed in the Iraq War. In 2003, Doc sets out to find his old buddies to help him through this difficult mission. First, he finds ex-Marine Sal Nealon (Bryan Cranston) at his bar, and they show up at the church of the now Reverend Richard Mueller (Laurence Fishburne). Their journey will reveal old wrongs and how much their service in Vietnam changed them forever. As they try to make up for the past and deal with Doc’s painful losses, they also confront the truth of his son’s heroic death and whether knowing the truth is always the best way to handle every situation. Their travels revealing how their war continues to haunt them, and Linklater provides insight into the plight and problems of the Vietnam veterans which will surprise some. Last Flag Flying, an Amazon release, is rated R for language throughout, including some sexual references and runs an intense 124 minutes. In theaters now.
The Man Who Invented Christmas
Director Bharat Nalluri’s The Man Who Invented Christmas follows Charles Dickens (Dan Stevens) as he struggles to write A Christmas Carol and savage his failing writing career and falling financial life. As the characters from the story become really fro him and haunt him day and night, Charles has numerous conversations with his main character, Ebenezer Scrooge (Christopher Plummer). The film is a delicate negotiation of the creative process, and the absolutely fabulous cast nailing every role and solid script gives the film plenty of depth and the audience something to think about. The appearance and development of the 3 Christmas ghost and even Tiny Tim and the beautiful sets and costumes round out a visually stunning film. For those familiar with literature and the literary world, there are laughs aplenty. Other might enjoy looking at the handsome Stevens who is known for play the ill-fated heir, Matthew Crawley, on Downton Abbey. Dicken’s A Christmas Carol is credited with changing the way Christmas was celebrated ever after. The Man Who Invented Christmas, a Bleecker Street release, runs 104 minutes. Although rated a family friendly PG for thematic elements and some mild language, the treatment of factory-worker children might be scary for younger children. In theaters now.
