Second viewing made me love this film even more. There's a line in the movie where a nun says that maybe love and attention are the same thing. And Gerwig applies that philosophy to each one of her delicately crafted characters. You feel that she loves and cares for all of them, and they all get moments that make you realize how complex and three dimensional their lives are. Even the Howard Zinn-reading douchey hipster trying to invalidate her feelings about her virginity- you don't feel as if his character is being utilized to get our protagonist somewhere. The tone that the film uses with the characters sort of validates every single person. Yeah maybe that guy broke her heart and was kind of a douche, but he's just another kid and he'll grow up just like anyone else. Yeah maybe she was upset to find her boyfriend kissing a guy, but ultimately he's struggling too and just needed her to be his friend. 

By the end, you feel like the film is trying to hold you and tell you that everything you feel and have ever felt is okay, and this was a beautiful story of one person's path but there's so many other people out there that take different paths and that's all okay too. 

A beautiful, beautiful film that just gets it.