Lady Bird 2017 * * * 1/2 Stars

Director: Greta Gerwig
Year: 2017
Rated R
Rating: * * * 1/2 Stars
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts

Lady Bird is my latest write-up. As you might have already discovered, it has nothing to do with the 36th President's late wife.

So yeah, "Bird's" ending left my mind up in the air as well as on the edge of something. Still, this is a near-perfect film. It's definitely one of 2017's best.

Lady Bird gives people like writer Diablo Cody and director Kelly Fremon Craig a run for their money. It has the blueprint of a familiar teen drama but so what. "Bird" shoots from the hip and dives much deeper than stuff like Juno and The Edge of Seventeen.

Every sequence in "Bird" feels raw, unflinching, and just plain genuine. Every actor nuance is blessed with unassuming clout. With whip-smart dialogue, grainy locales, and keen direction by actor turned director Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird puts coming-of-age candor through the almighty ringer. All the characters (including the lead) are fully realized and no one harks a false note. Did I mention that Sacramento, California is this flick's unheralded star? It's true. So true.

"Bird's" story involves one Christine McPherson (played by Saoirse Ronan). Christine is a high school senior. She insists on being called "Lady Bird" and the pic never quite tells us why. She lives in Sacramento but wants to get out. Being from a lower-class family and having a love-hate relationship with her overbearing mother (Marion McPherson played by Laurie Metcalf), Christine dreams of attending college in New York. That way she'll make a ton of money and eventually thumb her mom's nose in it (in an unconditional, loving way of course).

In retrospect, I'm hoping that Ronan and Metcalf get well-deserved nominations at the Academy Awards (for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress respectively). Also, I'm rooting for Gerwig's truth to life screenplay to get some recognition as well.

Overall, Lady Bird has the makings of a tender, persona study. It also contains a seething, coffee shop soundtrack and unfeigned acting of the highest order. With this film, the "bird" is undoubtedly the word! Rating: 3 and a half stars.

Written by Jesse Burleson