"Beginners"

“Beginners” is a movie about a son learning about his father and in the process fixing himself. Starring Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer, Mike Mill’s (Writer/Director) presents semi-autobiographical look at his own relationship with his father. 

The movie tells the story of Oliver (McGregor) and his father Hal (Plummer). Following the death of Oliver’s mother, Hal comes out of the closet, takes a younger lover and is then diagnosed with terminal cancer. The movie is told is a series of Vignettes and flashbacks showing all the secrets that had been kept in Oliver’s family even before he was born.

Good points. The acting was great. McGregor and Plummer are a great team.  The writing was witty and the banter between the two was what you would expect in a movie like this one with complexities in personality and character. The dog was also hilarious adding comic relief and commentary to the story.

Cinematically, it was hard to follow at times. While movies that don’t go in chronological order is nothing new, I found the organization of the vignettes too disorganized.  I found myself wondering where this part fits in chronology.  Another annoying aspect was the use of truly stock characters.  Goran Visnjic’s “Andy” (Hal’s young lover) is an example of the uncomfortable gay man who still thinks everyone dislikes him because he’s gay. While his character added a something because you saw the happiness he added to Hal; the refrain of  “you don’t like me because I’m gay,” got old quickly.

Overall, this movie was very good. Good but heavy. This is not a movie to watch when you relaxing is your overall goal. Getting to the overall lesson of the movie is a journey worth taking. 

I give it 3 out 5 stars.

-Jacqui