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****
Dir: Greta Gerwig (15, 94 mins)
Indie darling Greta Gerwig, superb in films like Mistress America, Frances Ha and 20th Century Women, goes behind the camera to write and direct this brilliantly observed coming-of-age story. Saoirse Ronan plays Christine, who wants to be known as Lady Bird, a girl about to go away to college and desperate to go to New York,  despite her parents (Laurie Metcalf and Tracy Letts, both excellent) being unable to afford it. She is headstrong, opinionated and deeply naive. Ronan captures all that teenage angst with believably frustrating ease; she tries to get in with cliques, falls for the wrong boy twice and has a lot of maturing to do. Her relationship with her mother is at the heart of the film however: she and Metcalf spark winningly off each other, their relationship fractious but warm. Gerwig’s script is the reason why it all works however. It’s well observed, painfully real and under her direction the actors truly sing. The dialogue isn’t trite, there is a lot of heartbreak in the cracks, but also its winningly funny and coarse. A coming-of-age film may well be well-worn territory, but Gerwig’s film feels joyous and new.
Opens February 16