Image courtesy of Alliance Films
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Writer/Dir: Mike Mills (Thumbsucker)
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic
USA, 2011
Reason to see: Really love the cast and I also chatting about it with my buddy Joseph of Black Sheep Reviews make me know I needed to see it (see also his interview with Mike Mills!).
Following the life of Oliver (Ewan McGregor) in the time after his fathers passing, Beginners is a wonderful look at life, love and the relationships we hold dear as viewed through a multi-generational prism that provides an unique and adept perspective on relationships, family and love.
What an absolute delight Beginners is. Not to make it off as light-hearted because it isn’t, but it’s a true and beautiful look on life through the good, the bad and the inevitable. It’s fully-spirited and showcases touching concurrent journeys into love from different generational perspectives of a father and son. I really appreciated the honesty and wit of the film as it treks through the pitfalls and swells of not only the old school vision of staying in a marriage because that's 'what you do' but also the challenges and potential loneliness of what happens when you won't settle for anything but love. There is a beautiful emotional resonance in the film which reads strongly through the characters played Ewan McGregor as the in mourning son and Christopher Plummer as the recently out'ed and very excited father and both of their romantic entanglements and relationships.
I often say that I'm not a fan of drama, but Beginners is one of the rare films that makes me eat my own words as it's the brilliant exception to the rule. And I'm okay with that.
DVD Extras:
Feature Commentary with writer/director Mike Mills, A Short Film About Making Beginners and Beginners Promo
Beginners is available on DVD as of November 1, 2011. Check it out over at Amazon.ca & Amazon.com
Shannon's Overall View:
I loved it
I will watch it again
I highly & widely recommend it
Return to Film Reviews or see more DVD Reviews
© Shannon Ridler, 2011
Ewan McGregor (left) and Cosmo (right) star in writerdirector Mike Mills' BEGINNERS, an Alliance Films' release.
Academy Award® nominee Christopher Plummer (left) and Ewan McGregor (right) star as father and son in writerdirector Mike Mills' BEGINNERS an Alliance Films' release.
Ewan McGregor and Mélanie Laurent star in writerdirector Mike Mills' BEGINNERS, an Alliance Films' release. Photo credit Andrew Tepper
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