Pre-Festival Review

Review of “Beginners” (2010)

By Eva Claire Schwartz

Director: Mike Mills

Writer: Mike Mills

Starring: Ewan McGreggor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent, Goran Višnjić

Run Time: 104 Minutes

Mike Mills’ Beginners is carefully crafted film that is sparked by a simple confession from the main character’s father after 38 years of marriage: “I’m gay.”  While the audience is captivated with the sudden confession from Oliver’s (Ewan McGreggor) father, Hal (Christopher Plummer), they are presented with another revelation: Oliver can’t seem to make a meaningful relationship with a woman work.

Oliver seems to be in a state of high-functioning depression, getting his most valuable advice from his father’s Jack Russell Terrier, Arthur, who seems to be the only character with a level head.

Mills crafts the film in three timeframes: the period of time where Hal comes out of the closet to explore his sexuality, the aftermath of his death, and Oliver’s childhood (where we meet his mother). The jumping between circumstances is a smooth one, easily followed by the viewer. It achieves Mills’ goal of presenting a full view of Oliver so the audience can understand his strife and joys and shambled love life.

It becomes clear that Hal has always known he was gay, as did Oliver’s mother, Georgia (Mary Page Keller), who was Jewish. They made the relationship work until Georgia’s death and Hal’s confession at the age of 78.  Hal dives head first, freely joining dating sites, dancing at nightclubs, and hosting equal rights activism groups in his home. He gets a boyfriend, (Goran Višnjić), and Oliver remarks that this is the first time he has seen his father truly in love.

We understand Oliver is kind-hearted, loving, and a talented graphic design artist, but we don’t see him perk up until the introduction of a beautiful Frenchwoman named Anna (Melanie Laurant) at a costume party on Halloween.  She is enigmatic, yet mute as she has laryngitis, having to communicate with Oliver via notepad. Oliver is dressed as Sigmund Freud and toting around Arthur.

She is special, immediately recognizing the sadness in Oliver’s eyes. Given our sparknotes history of Oliver’s past, complete with portrait-style graphics, we are instantly concerned he will find a way to mess this up.  The two go back to Anna’s hotel room where they sweetly fall asleep, waking up to promise to get together again when Anna comes back in town.

Just as Hal is embarking on a new romance in the past sequence, Oliver is embarking on one in the present. We witness both navigate love with physically stunning individuals who seem to be almost too nice. Andy’s love seems unfaltering, even given the obvious age difference, but Mills crafts the film to focus on the sweetness and fullness of relationships so the audience doesn’t dwell on the improbability of true love between Hall and Andy. Oliver and Anna have sequences of dates that would normally make one question their authenticity. Roller-skating in the halls of a fancy hotel? Reading about new sex positions in a bookstore? Is their relationship really going that smoothly? Again, we are caught in the fantasy of the film – after all, Mills is presenting us with a parable of “beginning again.”

Hal’s new claim to a boldly lived life and Oliver’s optimism at a relationship with a travelling actress illustrate to the audience that a fresh start is possible at any age.

The mastery of Mills lays in his own start as a graphic artist, making this film an authentic look into someone who’s life is so visual. Mills flashes sketches of Oliver’s past girlfriends, old photographs of Oliver’s parents, and frames of fireworks. It is, in fact, artfully done.

The film has life. The casting was filled with warm personas, all of whom the audience immediately feels welcomed by and trusts. We want them to succeed and we need Oliver to make it work to give us hope for ourselves, even though at times he is the biggest mope.

It seems odd that no one in the film is malicious. No one is trying sabotage a love interest or berate Hal for being gay. Everyone has pretty pure intentions, which could be why Mills chose such warmth for the shots. Lots of sun and scenes of plants or flowers. Everything has a little daze to it, but just like the perfect loves, it works, leaving the audience walking away satisfied.

The ending is almost too excellent. After a bit of turbulence, Anna and Oliver make their way into each other’s arms, willing to battle whatever lays ahead together. But this sunshiney film reminds the audience that not every movie needs malice. Instead, it supports you, and gives you the courage to take a chance and be a beginner.