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Beginners (Mike Mills, 2010)
Unfortunately, much of
Beginners is concerned with another set of beginners. This greater portion
of the film charts the formative steps in the romantic entanglement of a duo of
middle-aged hipsters. This twee material infuriates to no end, freely swapping
emotional honesty with cloying artifice. When they first meet, she can’t speak
due to laryngitis and must write everything down in a notebook. They go on a
clumsy date at an outmoded roller skating rink. His job as illustrator involves
making childish doodles, only exacerbating the feel of terminal cuteness that
permeates most of Beginners. The
hand-wringing about their fear of emotional commitment feels like a constant
interruption. Director Mills tries to ground this material somewhat. He
generally uses natural lighting and often sets his scenes in clinical locations
such as hospitals and hotels. Still, this tendency is neutered by other
stylistic flourishes, such as his frequent, elaborate photo montages and
extended flashbacks to Oliver’s childhood. Perhaps it is the conception of the
Oliver character that makes Beginners
ultimately feel so disjointed, though. Because of the film’s jumbled chronology,
McGregor is stranded by a script that requires him to both be haunted by the
lies of his childhood and emotionally open to his new romantic relationship.
Oliver flits from depressed to charming and back again as the script requires,
ultimately feeling less like a character than a grand contrivance. Given that
Beginners relies upon him to form its
emotional core, he becomes a major detriment and ultimately serves as a
distraction from the highlights that surround him. 46 Jeremy Heilman 06.20.11
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