Rating: 4 / 5 stars

Everyone remembers their teenage years differently. Some think back to those days with a smile, some with the exact opposite, and some might not remember them at all. Yet, we all cling to our own dashes of minutia that helped give our rebel days some spunk and identity, whether it be the clothes we wore, the hairstyles we chose or the music we listened to. When taking a look back into our teenage minds, while we all may not have acted the same, there is a good chance we all thought the same. It is this revelation that makes “Lady Bird” stand out as not only a great coming of age film, but also one that all audiences can latch onto in some way.

First time director Greta Gerwig (“20th Century Women”) showcases a genuine knack for filmmaking, given how she takes a very exhausted and extensive genre and makes it more interesting to watch than most of this past year’s thrillers. On the surface, all viewers should be getting with “Lady Bird” is a very angsty and annoying girl who hates what she has and by the end will grow to become grateful and less angsty and annoying. However, audiences are treated to one of the year’s finest character pieces and love stories between a mother and daughter. This is in large part due to the two lead performances of Saoirse Ronan (“Brooklyn”) as the title character and Laurie Metcalf (“Roseanne”) as her mother.

Every bit of verbal sparring between this duo is cinematic as it is familiar. The beauty of this indie flick is that it feels like an interactive experience, one viewers can pick apart scene by scene. Viewers are able to point out which moments happened to them back in high school, which little details remind them of our childhood life and even what they were feeling when they went through the exact moment Lady Bird is going through, right in front of their eyes. This gives a cathartic sentiment to the film and keeps its momentum high and pace fluid so we are never bored.

What Gerwig has conjured up is nothing short of a masterclass in cinema. It is a movie set in a specific time period, the early 2000s, that feels timeless given what lies beneath the surface level. There is that classic teenage rebel who is angry at nothing, demands attention from everyone and commands respect even though she has none for herself. Yet, through Ronan’s career-best performance, at age 23 nonetheless, all of Lady Bird’s little quirks and flaws are endearing instead of exasperating. Even better than Ronan is Metcalf, whose portrayal as the loving yet firm mother shines far beyond just that. Viewers see a women who could easily have a prequel all about her teenage life. The characters in the film had a life before the opening scene and will have one after the credits begin rolling, and the only flaw with this film is that we do not get to see them.

“Lady Bird” proves itself to be a worthy addition to the neverending string of coming of age tales. The film delivers the complete package of comedy, drama, well-developed characters and a sense of realism that has not been matched by any other film this past year.

Image from A24 via YouTube.com