Beginners
(2010)Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer and Mélanie Laurent star in this comedy-drama about a young man rocked by two announcements from his elderly father: that he has terminal cancer and that he has a young male lover.... More
Oliver (McGregor) meets the irreverent and unpredictable Anna (Laurent of Inglourious Basterds) only months after his father (Plummer) has passed away. This new love has Oliver reflecting on his father who, following the death of his wife of 45 years, came out of the closet at age 75 to live an energized, and tumultuous gay life – which included a younger boyfriend, Andy (Goran Visnjic, ER).
From writer/director Mike Mills (Thumbsucker), who based this story on his own father.Hide
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Best Supporting Actor (Plummer) at 2012 Academy Awards, Golden Globes and BAFTAs. Best Film and Best Ensemble Cast winner at the Gotham Independent Film Awards 2011.
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Directed by Mike Mills ('Thumbsucker')
Starring Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic, Kai Lennox, Mary Page Keller
Written by Mike Mills
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Beginners
BY freshdude superstar
A fresh look at loss and love. Cleverly filmed and edited, it shows the contrast between Hal's late affirmation of what he wanted his life to be, and his son Oliver's doubtful and unsecure way of dealing with relationship ... which eventually might get resolved.
BY Weds_Loafers superstar
BY PhilMoore superstar
BY Gerd superstar
"The script is smart, acting excellent (especially Melanie Laurent who needs even more exposure), direction confident & illuminating and the package a real surprise.
It doesn't go for the typical happy ever after ending I was expecting, but something more real and still uplifting.
And good on Christopher Plummer, the older gay man living in a yound man's scene, who holds the key to the films success. Who are we, what can we do to be... More honest about ourselves, and why does love mean so much to us........beginners listen and learn."Hide
BY Tony-Bertasius lister
It doesn't go for the typical happy ever after ending I was expecting, but something more real and still uplifting.
And good on Christopher Plummer, the older gay man living in a yound man's scene, who holds the key to the films success. Who are we, what can we do to be... More honest about ourselves, and why does love mean so much to us........beginners listen and learn.Hide
The Press Reviews
84%
of critics recommend.
Rotten Tomatoes Score. More reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
One of the pleasures of Beginners is the warmth and sincerity of the major characters. Full Review
With good performances and characters, Beginners is an enjoyable, amusing and occasionally poignant watch. Full Review
The movie darts, dreams, and sometimes seems to dance. Full Review
The love feels heartfelt but it’s difficult loving other people, a hardship that’s evident in the happy-tearful faces, the tentative touches and searching glances that make this movie, or maybe all its yearning, so appealing. Full Review
A beautifully judged and genuinely affecting exploration of life’s constant capacity to surprise. Full Review
Deeply poignant and disarmingly personal. Full Review
BY Rebecca Barry Hill Flicks Writer
"They f** you up, your mum and dad" appears to be the underlying message of Mike Mills’ Beginners, a tragicomedy that also suggests the parents aren’t entirely to blame. Through the intimate portrayal of two love stories emerges a bigger picture of society’s expectations, a reminder of the consequences of repressed homosexuality.... More
Mills, a graphic designer in his other life, paints, rather than points, a finger. He’s an inventive storyteller, his distinctive visual voice affording his characters silence if they require it, communicating his theme through the use of motifs, twee advertising imagery, and metaphor (in one scene Ewan McGregor’s Oliver goes to a dress-up party as Sigmund Freud). Meanwhile, Oliver’s inner turmoil is shown via conversations with his dad’s dog, and through his increasingly depressive drawings.
Like his irreverent film Thumbsucker, Mills tackles dark territory but never strays too far into melancholy. That’s also thanks to a wonderfully charming cast playing offbeat, damaged characters. McGregor is sensitive and restrained, as is Melanie Laurent as the vulnerable Anna, Christopher Plummer as a newly-outed man discovering life at 75, and Mary Page Keller as Oliver’s bored and lonely mother, prone to eccentric public displays. One quibble: the central love story’s climax is underdeveloped, and plot-wise, there are few surprises.
But Beginners is still a heartfelt and whimsical gem.Hide
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