Lady Bird [Blu-ray/DVD]

Director: Greta Gerwig Greta Gerwig

Overview

This coming-of-age tale set in 2002 Sacramento centers on Christine McPherson (Saoirse Ronan), an eccentric teenager who prefers to go by the name "Lady Bird." Over the course of her senior year of high school, Lady Bird deals with the pangs of first love and clashes with her mother (Laurie Metcalf) over her plans for the future. Written and directed by Greta Gerwig, who loosely based the story on her own life. Tracy Letts, Timothee Chalamet, and Lucas Hedges co-star.

Product Details

Release Date:	03/06/2018
UPC:	0031398277460
Original Release:	2017
Rating:	R
Source:	LIONSGATE - 600000-AEC LGE
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:33:00
Sales rank:	1,320

Special Features

Audio commentary with writer-director Greta Gerwig and cinematographer Sam Levy; "Realizing Lady Bird" featurette

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Saoirse Ronan	Christine 'Lady Bird' McPherson
Laurie Metcalf	Marion McPherson
Tracy Letts	Larry McPherson
Lucas Hedges	Danny
Timothée Chalamet	Kyle,Actor
Odeya Rush	Jenna Walton
Jordan Rodrigues	Miguel
Beanie Feldstein	Julie Steffans
Stephen McKinley Henderson	Father Leviatch
Lois Smith	Sister Sarah Joan
Marielle Scott	Shelly Yuhan
Jake McDorman	Mr. Bruno
John Karna	Greg Anrue
Bayne Gibby	Casey Kelly
Laura Marano	Diana Greenway
Daniel Zovatto	Jonah Ruiz
Kristen Cloke	Ms. Steffans
Danielle Macdonald	Actor
Bob Stephenson	Father Walther
Christina Andrea Offley	Actor
Jon Brion	Composer
Marietta DePrima	Actor
Andy Buckley	Actor
Myra Turley	Actor
Abhimanyu Katyal	Actor
Kathryn Newton	Darlene Bell
Chris Witaske	Business Jock
Ben Konigsberg	David from College
Richard Jin	Cool Coffee Manager
Robert Figueroa	Cast Removal Doctor

Technical Credits

Greta Gerwig

Greta Gerwig	Director,Screenwriter
Scott Rudin	Producer
Eli Bush	Producer
Evelyn O'Neill	Producer
Lila Yacoub	Executive Producer,Producer
Allison Jones	Casting
Heidi Griffiths	Casting
Jordan Thaler	Casting

Editorial Reviews

"Anybody who talks about California hedonism has never spent a Christmas in Sacramento," author Joan Didion once remarked, and her incisive quote is the first thing audiences encounter in Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird, her luminous solo writing and directing debut. Gerwig, who, like Didion, grew up in Sacramento, based the story on her own experiences living there. The film chronicles the 2002-03 school year in the life of Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson (Saoirse Ronan), a restless 17-year-old senior who longs to leave the "Midwest of California" (as she calls her hometown) and attend college in New York City, "where culture is." Unfortunately, her parents can't afford an elite Manhattan school and, as her mother Marion (Laurie Metcalf) keeps reminding her, she isn't smart enough to get into them anyway. But that doesn't faze Lady Bird. She is, if nothing else, determined. During the school year, Lady Bird (the moniker is a pet name Christine gave herself in an effort to exercise independence) auditions for her Catholic school's annual musical (Stephen Sondheim's famous flop, Merrily We Roll Along); dates a couple of polar-opposite guys; anxiously awaits replies from prestigious East Coast colleges she's applied to; dumps her best friend Julie (Beanie Feldstein) in a wrongheaded effort to hang with a cooler crowd; and continually butts heads with her no-nonsense, overworked mom. If all this sounds rather routine for a coming-of-age story, you're right. But what makes Lady Bird special is Gerwig's unique take on it all. The film is disarmingly simple but not simple-minded, sweet but not sentimental. It is by turns tender, furious, funny, heartbreaking, illuminating, and, above all, honest. There isn't a false moment in it. Lady Bird is essentially an unvarnished mother-daughter story. Lady Bird and Marion are so much alike, but neither will admit it. There's no doubt they love one another, but they often say hurtful things in the heat of the moment that they don't really mean. And like the old Elton John song, sorry seems to be the hardest word, especially for Marion. Metcalf and Ronan are pitch-perfect and nothing less than brilliant throughout. The film's opening scene, in which Lady Bird and Marion drive back from a disappointing college visit, is witty and wonderful, and ingeniously sets the tone for all that follows. Lady Bird tells her mom how much she hates California and wants to attend school on the East Coast, preferably in New York, but "at least Connecticut or New Hampshire where writers live in the woods." To which Marion wonders how she raised such a snob: "You know, with your work ethic, just go to City College, and then to jail, and then back to City College," Marion fumes. At which point Lady Bird, having heard enough, opens the car door and tumbles to the pavement. It's funny, sad, and shocking all at once -- much like life itself -- and the movie is filled with such authentic moments. Later, Lady Bird and Marion are shopping at a thrift store and arguing as usual. Marion tells Lady Bird that she only wants her to be the very best version of herself that she can possibly be. To which her daughter replies, "What if this is the best version?" Her mom just looks at her in disbelief. Audiences, however, will likely want to give Lady Bird a hug and say, "That's fine, we love you just the way you are."