Beginners cast , clockwise: Oliver (Ewan McGregor), Arthur (Cosmo), Hal (Christopher Plummer) + Anna (Mélanie Laurent)
Beginners, directed by Mike Mills,is one of those modest, yet quietly brilliant , movies that gets universally praised by the critics but largely ignored by the public.
It would have passed me by too had I not been intrigued to learn why it had garnered such acclaim at both Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes.
It fully deserves this praise because it stands head and shoulders above the relentless spate of brash and largely forgettable Rom-Coms.
Unlike those films, Beginners is not aimed at libidinous teenagers but is interested in showing modern love (both straight and gay) in a way that makes us both understand and care for the characters.
The movie’s themes mirror the colours of the rainbow flag used as a symbol of the Gay Pride movement: red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for magic, blue for serenity, and violet for spirit.
There is no slapstick humour or crude innuendo yet it is both funny and sexy. It is touching and sad too but not in a downbeat way.
Set in 2003 BF (before Facebook) the story is told from the perspective of a lonely graphic designer Oliver who has just lost his father and soon falls for a new woman, Anna.
The way in which Oliver comes to terms with death is handled so sensitively that it ends up as an affirmation of life. His loss is made all the more bearable by the fact that his father has lived his life to full right to the very end. At the age of 75, after the death of Oliver’s mother, he announces that he is gay and intends to find a lover and a make a fresh beginning. This surprising turn of events is apparently closely based on Mills’ own experience.
In the role of Hal, Christopher Plummer is quite superb as are the rest of the cast which includes a star turn by Jack Russell Cosmo as Arthur; if there was an Oscar for animals, he would win this hands down.
Beginners shows that feel good movies don’t have to be brain dead.
Related links:
Interview with Mike Mills (LA Weekly)
Universal acclaim at Metacritic
Certified fresh at Rotten Tomatoes
