Film Review: "Beginners" (***)

 

About an hour into the proceedings of Mike Mills' "Beginners", I began to realize exactly what it was I was watching. I had all the pieces on hand before, yet the film seems like such a quirky focus that you wouldn't assumed it. However, it was only when the film started dragging on that I realized this was an autobiographical work with details drawn from Mills' own life. The main flaw is that the film had to drag on for me to realize that, when it shouldn't have dragged on at all.

The film follows Oliver Fields in two crucial moments in his life that don't quite connect with each other. In one, Oliver is dealing with the ordeal of his father revealing that he has been gay his entire life, all while he is dying from stage 4 cancer. They play very much with his natural discomfort at his father's life choice, as well as his cynical mannerisms towards all his relationships. The other series of circumstances takes place after Oliver's father has died, as he meets a woman and starts a fun and exciting relationship with her.

However, despite the fact that I consider Melanie Laurent a terrific actress, she hasn't quite come out of her shell, and we don't ever really get to know her character all that well. So much more attachment is drawn towards Oliver's adopted dog from his father, Arthur. While that may seem like something of a gripe, it's actually kind of sweet and works for the film. That doesn't keep it from being a distraction, and his subtitles become a tad obligatory at times. All the same, he's about as entertaining a companion as Dug from "Up".

As for Oliver's father Hal, played by Christopher Plummer, I've heard an awful lot about Plummer's Oscar opportunities, and I do think he is particularly strong in this one. He so rarely gets the chance to shine nowadays, instead consigning to films like "Priest", so I honestly think he wasted this opportunity. Not to say he isn't great, as he does capture the exact composure that every assigns to his character. However, I think the key player in this film is Mary Page Keller, who appears sparingly and desperately as Oliver's mother. Keller embodies such a fragile yet free creature, and is lovingly comparative to Mills' real life wife, Miranda July.

The below the line aspects of the piece might as well be irrelevant in a film this quirky. The music arranged is a cacophony of very simple piano melodies, very much allying to Mills' vision of composition. The cinematography is somewhat unextraordinary during the indoor scenes most of the film plays out. However, as soon as we get outside we realize that Mills' is going for a more expansive look than the rooms will allow. When outside, you can really drink it in.

The main flaw of the film is that it happens to go on for quite some time. What it provides is more than welcome, but quite often you feel the film will end on an abrupt and depressing note. It also seems to drag things on with its main motif of montaged still frames, and while you have to admire Mills' attempt to be more than just a regular film, it becomes repetitive at a point, and self-indulgent even. The benefits of knowing it's Mills' story do outweigh the defects, but you know it's going to end well when you realize it. Because Mills and July continue to be happily married, and their sensibilities seem to accent the lifestyle well.