Beginners (2010)

Director: Mike Mills

Writer: Mike Mills

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent

Rated: R (language, some sexual content)

Okay, you should know that I am not one for romance movies, especially romantic comedies. For the most part, they make me cringe with their predictable stories and bland characters. However, there are a handful of “rom coms” that I simply can’t resist and 2010’s Beginners has fallen into that group. This is because it isn’t actually about romance – that plays more as a sub-plot if you may. The movie is mainly about thirty-eight year old Oliver Fields and his relationship with his father, Hal (Christopher Plummer) who has just revealed that he is gay. The film goes back and forth between the past and the present: In the past, his father is alive and fighting stage 4 cancer. In the present, Oliver has met the charming French actress, Anna (Mélanie Laurent) and recounts to her the roles that each of his parents played in his life.

Though perceived by many as a pretentious “hipster film,” I have to disagree. I think this film approached its quirkiness very modestly and in a way as to say, “we’re not trying to be artsy, we’re just doing things a little differently.” By quirky I mean that there are many little details that added to the film’s overall charm. When Oliver and Hal are informed that doctors located a cancerous mass “the size of a quarter” in the bronchoscopy performed on Hal, I had a slight but not strong reaction. While this is serious news, a quarter didn’t sound very large to me. (Then again, I don’t know much about cancer). But then we venture into Oliver’s mind for a quick moment where we see the image of one single quarter, then two dimes and a nickel, then five nickels and eventually twenty-five pennies. Surprisingly this was very effective in pointing out how bad the medical news is.

Another little technique the filmmakers used was to have the majority of Oliver’s narration be over a series of either old photographs or film footage. While most of the film focuses on the before and after of Hal’s death, the movie, at parts, explores even deeper into the past and tells us the story of young Oliver and his mother and even earlier, the story of how his parents got married in 1955. Instead of making the film an “epic” about the two generations, we are given the facts by the “present Oliver” who explains everything we need to know in a very simple narration, accompanied by the photographs and video footage. Here is an example I particularly like and can be found in the trailer: “This is 2003. This is what the sun looks like [picture of the sun] and the stars [picture of the stars] nature [picture of nature]. This is the president [picture of George W. Bush]…” And it goes on from there. Some may hate it, and that’s totally cool, but I think it’s really quite charming.

What I also like about the movie aside from its style is simply how the story is told. I especially like how both the past and present, though clearly separate, are interwoven almost as to hint that – in the least cheesy way possible – Oliver’s parents are still with him.

Also, for those of you out there who would care about this sort of thing, there is a dog. And he’s freaking adorable. Pretty much present in every scene due to his separation anxiety, Arthur the Jack Russell Terrier plays as a silent and very cute companion who seems to always know the right thing to say. (If you see the movie you’ll know what I’m talking about.) It’s possible I may be over thinking this, but when watching Oliver and Arthur, I couldn’t help but think of Oliver and his mother. He’s respected by and holds complete control over the dog without really doing anything at all. Again, if you see or have seen the movie you can decide for yourself if that connection makes sense or not…

Lastly: the performances. Before I end this fairly long and tedious review, I wanted to give credit to the three main stars. Besides the fact that they’re all awesome and physically attractive people, they really brought their characters to life: Ewan McGregor, the sad and quiet Oliver; Mélanie Laurent, the delightful and understanding Anna; and Christopher Plummer, the ill yet life-loving gay man Hal. There was great chemistry between the three of them, which helped make their relationships with each other all the more believable and endearing and the overall film worth watching. It requires a patient audience but if you’re into anything along the lines of Indie, comedy, romance or drama, this is the flick for you!