Ewan McGregor stars as Oliver, a graphic artist in his late thirties who has just started a relationship with Anna (Mélanie Laurent), a French actress. As Oliver’s romance blossoms, he reflects on his father’s recent death – complicated by the fact that, at age 75, his father Hal (Christopher Plummer) came out.
Beginners takes the form of a series of snapshots. Memories of his mother and father interrupt Oliver at work, as he’s driving, as he lies in bed with Anna, or as he converses with Arthur, his father’s Jack Russell who he has adopted. In this sense, the film is realistic, capturing the way we think about things in a non-linear way. Yet the film also has an indie, ethereal quality, as evidenced by Arthur’s subtitled thoughts. This results in a fairly slow pace to the film, but this is not a criticism.
Plummer’s performance, as an aging man who takes a leap into the unknown, is exceptional. His Hal shows real courage and joie de vivre, a legacy he leaves to his son Oliver. McGregor, equally, is on good form, as the quiet commitment-phobe, complemented well by Laurent’s quirky role.
Beginners is, by turns, funny, sad and hopeful. Whilst not all of the characters’ motivations are entirely clear, what the film succeeds in communicating is the fact that we are all, in some way, just beginners.
Beginners takes the form of a series of snapshots. Memories of his mother and father interrupt Oliver at work, as he’s driving, as he lies in bed with Anna, or as he converses with Arthur, his father’s Jack Russell who he has adopted. In this sense, the film is realistic, capturing the way we think about things in a non-linear way. Yet the film also has an indie, ethereal quality, as evidenced by Arthur’s subtitled thoughts. This results in a fairly slow pace to the film, but this is not a criticism.
Plummer’s performance, as an aging man who takes a leap into the unknown, is exceptional. His Hal shows real courage and joie de vivre, a legacy he leaves to his son Oliver. McGregor, equally, is on good form, as the quiet commitment-phobe, complemented well by Laurent’s quirky role.
Beginners is, by turns, funny, sad and hopeful. Whilst not all of the characters’ motivations are entirely clear, what the film succeeds in communicating is the fact that we are all, in some way, just beginners.
