Beginners

"I don't want to be just theoretically gay, I want to do something about it"

I don't have a great deal of things to say about this film, so this review won't be too over the top. I'm happy that it has gotten a little bit of awards-season notice through Christopher Plummer's performance, because it's one of those breezy indie dramadies that can slip under the radar so easily, and it doesn't really deserve that. Beginners tells the story of Oliver (Ewen McGregor), a grown man still treading water in his life, unable to realise his dreams as a cartoonist and also unable to really commit to any kind of meaningful relationship due to several issues that have been passed onto him by his rather unorthodox parents. When Oliver's mother dies, his gay father decides to finally come out of the closet and live the last four years of his life as a man actively involved in the homosexual community. All of this is told in flashback, after the death of Oliver's dad, Hal (Christopher Plummer).

I guess, in a way, the title 'Beginners' is getting at the point that Hal re-started his life all over again in his 70s, and that Oliver must take some kind of inspiration from this to properly start his own life now that he is in his late 30s/early 40s. There's the usual stuff about the way our relationship with our parents can affect our own attitudes towards relationships, and there's also a recurring theme about the way different eras compare in regards to quality of living and social attitudes. It isn't a particularly deep or philosophical film, it plays out the character arcs of its characters in a fairly subtle and understated way, but it gets the job done in telling a very human story. The gay civil rights stuff has been examined in great detail by much more ambitious films, so Beginners just uses this as a positive springboard to instead talk about the importance of just being open to new things and having the capacity to change your life for the better.

McGregor does this wide-eyed passive thing for most of the film. Oliver isn't a big, vivid character... he's very closed-off and McGregor manages to get this across without seeming overtly negative. Melanie Laurent plays the love interest, Anna, and I have to admit that I liked the character more when she didn't talk (see the film for what I mean). Of course, the real reason for why this film is so enjoyable is Plummer's supporting performance as Hal. Plummer is so cute as the old gay man enthusiastically learning how to live a new lifestyle, it's a very well-written part but Plummer also doesn't fall into any traps by making it stereotypical or sleazy. He's just this nice old man who wants to embrace who he really is, who he's really been his entire life, and your affection for this film will most likely be due to just him.

DIRECTOR: Mike Mills

WRITER/SOURCE: Mike Mills, partially autobiographical.
KEY ACTORS: Ewen McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Melanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic, Mary Page Keller

RELATED TEXTS

- Mike Mills previously the made the indie film Thumbsucker.
- Other big films about homosexuality and/or the gay civil rights movement: Milk, Brokeback Mountain, A Single Man, The Life and Times of Harvey Milk and In and Out.

AWARDS

Academy Awards - won Best Supporting Actor (Christopher Plummer)
BAFTAs - won Best Supporting Actor (Plummer)
Golden Globes - won Best Supporting Actor (Plummer)
Independent Spirit Awards - won Best Supporting Male (Plummer). Also nominated for Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay.