Romantic movies hinge on the principle that two broken people can find each other and fix the other’s relational hang-ups through their own flaws.
This idea, while heartwarming, is overused and typically portrayed in an exaggerated and impossible manner, making “Beginners” that much more refreshing.
“Beginners” doesn’t buy into the standard Hollywood formula. It instead poses the question: Why can’t two people, who are fading into loneliness, just be there for each other?
Directed by Mike Mills, who has gained indie cred with “Thumbsucker” (2005), “Beginners” is a film that charms its way past the emotional barrier and gently wrenches at the most stalwart of viewers.
Perhaps the most ambitious and expertly executed aspect of “Beginners” is the layered plot that spans many decades and neatly interchanges between scenes of the way past and present.
The film opens with Oliver (Ewan McGregor) packing up his father’s, who has recently passed away from a long bout with cancer, belongings. Stricken with grief, Oliver takes his father’s dog Arthur (expertly played by a Jack Russell terrier named Cosmo — he’s credited and deserves at least a little ink) into his own home as he tries to figure out where to go from this loss.
It immediately becomes obvious that aside from a few friends, Oliver is completely alone and most of his time had been dedicated to taking care of his father.
The film begins to jump around through time, but the most pivotal scene is narrated by Oliver, as his father Hal (Christopher Plummer) comes out to him after his mother’s death. Once it becomes established that Hal is a gay man, Oliver begins to describe the drastic life change that his father underwent up until his death, and his plea for Oliver to find someone for himself.
This love advice becomes the backbone for Oliver’s bold and uncharacteristic pursuit of a relationship with Anna (Melanie Laurent).
With these three characters, the film sets up a past (Oliver and Hal interacting as Hal dies) and present (Oliver and Anna), creating a spawning film that examines two very important and volatile relationships.
“Beginners” moves at a very methodical pace, and instead of creating a climax with an eruption of conflict, it has an underlying tension that comes along with having two main characters who bring such grief to the equation.
The chemistry between McGregor and Laurent is the most enchanting part of the film. They just seem to bring a certain ease to a relationship that portrays them as good friends rather than two characters on screen. However, it would have been nice to gain more insight into Anna so the viewer could have a better grasp on her character’s past and personality.
“Beginners” is no way near a perfect film. In fact, its very strengths could be viewed as flaws (pacing and writing), but it manages to elicit something deeper from the viewer than romances tend to do these days.
Regardless of people’s views on gay rights or relationships, “Beginners” addresses the fact that despite of age, color or sexuality, no one deserves to live alone. And, that is definitely a lesson anyone can be reminded of.