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.
