J.D. Funari’s review published on Letterboxd:
If 2017's Year of the Woman brought an incredible amount of overpraise to the highly problematic Wonder Woman, it at least got it right with Lady Bird.
Following 2015's The Diary of a Teenage Girl and 2016's The Edge of Seventeen there definitely isn't a shortage lately of female led coming of age stories. If the formula and beats are familiar, what's not is the quirky, personal take on the material from Greta Gerwig. For years she's crafted a unique voice as an actor and it carries over seamlessly from behind the lens.
There's an exhilarating foot-to-the-pedal pacing to the first 40 minutes or so, reminiscent of the kinetic energy surging through Mistress America, not coincidentally also a Gerwig project. By the time the story slows a bit in the third act, the table has been set to deliver on character drama, with more than capable acting from Ronan (I've been a fan since Atonement) and Metcalf, continuing to kill it after her excellent work in Horace and Pete. Lucas Hedges impresses as well.
In quite a few ways tonally this is like a sister film to The Big Sick. They both nail the human moments in between making you laugh and cry. Perfectly suited score from the ever-talented Jon Brion.
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