Lady Bird (5/5 Stars)

In one of several great moments in “Lady Bird”, the titular character, a catholic high school senior named Chistine McPherson who has given herself the “Lady Bird”, is speaking with one of her teachers, Sister Sarah Joan, about her writing sample about her hometown Sacramento. Sister Sarah Joan especially likes the writing sample because one can tell how much Lady Bird loves Sacramento. This comment surprises Lady Bird because she does not like Sacramento and has spent much of the movie stating exactly that and how she wishes to go to college somewhere on the east coast, like New York, where, as she says, “culture is”. But, Sister Sarah Joan remarks, Lady Bird’s writing is so specific and detailed. She shows so much attention to Sacramento and aren’t they the same thing, love and attention.

Sister Sarah Joan’s point is amply demonstrated by this movie, which on its surface is about a young woman who doesn’t like her neighborhood, doesn’t feel like she fits in, and wants to move. But the characters are so warmly drawn and the scenes are so wonderfully specific, it is impossible to believe that Lady Bird’s family, her catholic high-school, and Sacramento, all three of which she is trying desperately to rebel against, are not also very close to her heart. She also fights with her mother constantly, but it is the sort of fighting that comes from micro-management, not neglect, and this too the movie seemingly argues, is another type of love, maddening at times yes, but still love.

The greatness of “Lady Bird” lies in its specificity. It is a great counterargument to the prevailing wisdom about how to make and market movies about high school. Most high school movies seek to put characters into certain roles (mean girls, nerds, jocks, and the like), the idea being to appeal to the lowest common denominator. This movie could not be more different. Counterintuitively, in being very true to itself, it has apparently appealed to a large group of people anyway. It is has received an extraordinarily high RottenTomatoes rating and has made a lot of money. This was surprising to me because how many people could possibly relate to a catholic high school girl in Sacramento. Apparently everybody.

“Lady Bird” was written and directed by Greta Gerwig, better known as an actress. Greta went to a Catholic high school in Sacramento before moving to New York for college. So essentially this movie is about her. It certainly feels lived in. I felt like I could especially relate to it because I grew up in the suburbs, went to a Catholic high school, and wanted to leave for New York. I think she got that 100% correct. As important, she got correct how a rejection of one’s upbringing doesn’t necessarily mean a hatred of it. There is a particularly beautiful scene at the end of “Lady Bird” wherein Christine suffering from a hangover from night before, walks into a Catholic church for Sunday Mass and hears a choir singing. Christine isn’t religious anymore but she recognizes the feeling as that of her home and it moves her with feelings of nostaligia and gratitude. This movie, along with the musical “The Book of Mormon”, are exceedingly rare things, love letters from atheists to religious organizations. Greta Gerwig isn’t a believer, but she understands and respects it. It wasn’t for her, but she lovingly pays attention.

Lady Bird is played with perfection by Saiorise Ronan. Her mother is played by Laurie Metcalf. I expect they will both be nominated this year. Also, “Lady Bird” is a perfect candidate for Best Original Screenplay Oscar. I hope Greta Gerwig quits acting and starts writing/directing full-time. She is very good at this.

Coco (4/5 Stars)

I wouldn’t know the first thing as to what “Coco”, Pixar’s latest venture, gets right and wrong about the beliefs around Dia de los Muertos, the Mexican holiday that centers around veneration of ancestors. All I can say is that, portrayed by Coco, it makes for an ingenious engine for plot. The conceit of “Coco”, and for Dia de los Mueros perhaps, is that upon death, people enter into a new life in a parallel dead realm (there is probably a better word for it than that). In the dead realm, life goes on as usual, except instead of class divisions based on wealth or rank, there are class divisions based on how well one is remembered in the Earth realm. Remembrance in the Earth realm can be both physical as well as mental. A dead person can be remembered by having their photograph placed on a family shrine or can simply exist within the mind of a family member. But if the photograph is not placed on the shrine or the last family member who remembers the dead soul dies or forgets, than the dead soul dies a second death in the alternate realm.

Miguel, voiced by Anthony Gonzalez, is a young boy with an interesting family history. His great great grandfather, a musician, became estranged by the family. His great great grandmother swore off music and forbid any of her descendants to remember the great great grandfather. As Miguel’s family celebrates this year’s Dia de los Muertos, the only family member to still remember the great great grandfather is Abuelita, Miguel’s great grandmother, who is very close to dying herself. Thus there is a ticking time clock here, for Miguel to figure out what needs to figure out, to essentially save the second life of his great great grandfather. I have to admit, this is a plot I have not seen before.

The idea that the memory of ancestors keeps them literally alive, albeit in a different place, should be inviting to everyone. The fact that this movie is also very specific about a particular culture presents to the audience something Pixar does extremely well. It is an original story with emotional underpinning that is instantly identifiable. “Coco” is not as funny as other Pixar movies, but it makes up for it by being especially touching. Who, of course, who would not melt a little to see a long lost relative come back to life? And the way Pixar tugs this particular heartstring, through the use of musical elements and cues that weave themselves through the story, is very effective.

All that is lefts is to admit, once again, that Pixar has made a visually striking movie. The Pixar style may seems at times to be a bit foreign to this culture. When I think of movie dominated by bones, I am reminded more of the stop-motion animated style of Tim Burton, but it is not too distracting. I don’t know what details of Dia de los Muertos is got right or wrong, but even there had not been such a culture and this movie was made up whole-cloth, it would have succeeded in making it interesting, important, and vibrant.

Pixar has a tradition of dual directors per film. “Coco” was directed by the Pixar veteran Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 2, Monster’s Inc., Finding Nemo, and Toy Story 3) and a Pixar new-comer Adrian Molina, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Matthew Aldrich. I expect it is to Molina’s credit that this story has the level of detail it commands and to Unkrich, the usual Pixar flair and competence.