Super Loser Double Feature 7/1/11 Episode 2: Beginners
After seeing Bad Teacher I couldn't trust myself to go home and not do something stupid so I had to go and see something else. I looked around and found a movie with some people who can act and off I went.
Beginners stars Ewan McGregor as Oliver, Christopher Plummer as Hal and Melanie Laurent as Anna. McGregor and Plummer play a father and son, the father came out as a gay man after his wife dies. The son sees his father living life to it's fullest in the time he has left but Oliver doesn't get to do the same.
This is a movie about relationships and how hard those can be. There are scenes that are difficult to watch as you can imagine the characters having a tragic ending.
I really thought at some point this was going to induce a spate of tears but that moment never came. I felt like they tried and tried but never got me over that hurdle.
The time-line jumps around as you see the story of Hal and Oliver play out contrasted against the story of Anna and Oliver. Some of this is hard to watch. The interactions between Oliver and his mother show a boy growing up in a truly dysfunctional home.
Arthur, Hal's Jack Russell, gives the movie some much needed light moments, but this film is still heavy.
I would recommend this movie, but only if you are okay with thinking about it on the way home. It stuck with me and judging from the silence of the other theater patrons it struck a chord with them as well.
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