"Beginners"
After watching the trailer for Beginners from "acclaimed director" Mike Mills which was playing before some feature presentation almost a year ago it did not make the must see list of 2011 for this critic. Now that we are in thick of awards season and Christopher Plummer is getting quite a bit of attention across the board, this film has made its way on to the radar. Going into Beginners, the expectations were set quite low. Coming out, the reaction to the picture was disappointing.
The year is 2003 and thirty-eight year old Oliver Fields (Ewan McGregor) has been in four failed relationships in his life and wasn't looking to be in anymore. His life changes when he meets an actress by the name of Anna (Mélanie Laurent) one night at a party. Oliver and Anna are both damaged goods. They are both depressed individuals looking for something out of life. We aren't told a whole lot about Anna's past, however it seems Oliver has been in an ongoing state of unhappiness since he was a child. That despondency continued on with Oliver's mother Georgia (Mary Page Keller) passing away in 1997. With her passing, his father Hal (Plummer) felt it time to come out of the closet to his son. Several years after that Hal also passed away. The story cuts between the relationship Oliver has with Anna, the relationship he had with his mother when he was a child, and the relationship he had with his gay father in the years leading up to his death.
This probably could have been a pretty gripping and engaging film (considering it was based on the relationship Mills had with his father) had it not been for the way the story was told and its depressing characters. The fact that we keep jumping back and forth between different stages of Oliver's life makes the film lose any sort of flow or progression. Beginners is supposed to be about the kinship Oliver has with his now openly gay father. There are too many scenes with Anna and Oliver together and not enough moments with Hal. Also, the reoccurring montages that keep coming up are pointless. They come off as being as showy for all the wrong reasons. Those sequences add nothing to the story.
Plummer is by far the best thing about the film and gives a wonderful performance as a man who is finally allowed to live the life he always wanted to. Hal is the only content character in the film. He has so many fun times with all the friends he is able to accumulate and have a boyfriend who loves him so dearly. Hal is clearly making the most out of what little time he has left. There is so much joy that beams through that 75 year old face of Plummer's. You can tell he's having a good time playing the role.
Beginners does have a few good scenes (just the ones with Plummer) but in the end you are just left feeling unmoved and emotionless. Something is missing. Oliver is just so down in the dumps for the whole picture which brings the tone of the entire picture down. The story remains fairly one dimensional in its portrayal of a son attempting to come terms with a life (whether it be his father’s or his own) that's been a lie. There isn't enough exploration on the issues that are raised. The film doesn't live up to its promises and instead mucks about on a story that should not be its focal point. And although Plummer is pleasing to watch if he does go on to win at the Academy Awards it'll be more in recognition for his career than the actual role. Beginners never quite starts, but you can’t wait until it ends.
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