Viewed in
2013
Formats
HDTV
Premise
Ewan McGregor stars as single man who meets an actress (Melanie Laurent), while reminiscing about the passing of his recently out-of-the-closet father, played by Christopher Plummer.
Liked
Cast, human dynamics, use of quirkiness to serve the story.
Thoughts
The gay father hook could've been a cheap gimmick, but thanks to strong writing, the movie was really sweet.
As the leads, McGregor and Laurent were absolutely lovable and deserved to be/stay together. McGregor's always been really good at playing charming and vulnerable. Laurent, on the other hand, was a surprise. In Inglorious Basterds, she was stoic and dignified. Here she was exotic yet subtly quirky. Their meet cute was quite creative and tender.
I also really liked McGregor's character's family relationships. His parents' subplot/backstory was genuine and heart-breaking. The movie did an excellent job of portraying an unhappy marriage in a realistic and understated manner that's rarely seen in cinema these days. Plummer's gay adventures served as poignant parallels to McGregor's own love troubles, treating the character's homosexuality as a reset button instead of cheap melodrama.
An underrated aspect of this film was how quirkiness was utilized to give us more information about these characters, instead of just being there for the sake of it. For example, the incredibly cute Jack Russell terrier. Each time they reused the running gag of it "talking back" it served as a cool sounding board for McGregor's inner thoughts, and for each iteration there was an extra layer/twist that kept it fresh. In fact, there's quite a few repeating devices that always added something funny/insightful/emotional. Normally, I'm not a fan of voice-over narration, but by accompanying charming/contrasting visuals instead of straight flashbacks, it also further illustrated meaningful backstories.
I wouldn't call it a big flaw, but the stakes in the movie were kind of small. From the outset you knew Plummer's character had died, so there wasn't much mystery or resistance between the characters. They were all nice, complex characters without potentially-catastrophic flaws. But sometimes you're in the mood for something that isn't going to bash your heart into a pulp of tears.
Also, while there was constant handheld cameras, it was surprisingly minimal in its swaying, creating that feeling of intimacy without the need for dimenhydrinate.
While Beginners did have an element of sadness, overall I found it to be a very sweet little gem of a movie. By channelling bits of Annie Hall, Before Sunrise, and Big Fish (which also included McGregor), it sported lovable human characters finding their way to love/happiness in sincere and amusing babysteps.
