sbsieber What a strangely empty, self-indulgent and ultimately meaningless movie this is. What poor use of a reliable cast. Bening is wasted in the role of a middle-aged, single mother of a teen son. Her strength is in her ability to use words - to speak; her voice. She has been given so little to say here; the script is almost non existent beyond the basics required to drive one pointless scene to the next. In the moments where there might be a confrontation of some sort, she chokes - stuttering and spluttering in frustration because she has nothing to say. This is so frustrating. This is an actress who needs words. Yes, she has an interesting face and is very emotive facially and physically, but it is her voice we want to hear.Other actors are similarly wasted or misused. Billy Crudup who was wonderful in Rudderless (highly recommended) is reduced to nothing more than a quasi-romantic, handyman whose function is as a foil for the female actors and to spout occasional New Age nonsense. Greta Gerwig, another interesting actor is strangely muzzled in her role, and Elle Fanning is totally miscast as an angry, vulnerable teen who uses sexual promiscuity to act out against her therapist mother who appears to have no idea what is going on in her daughter's life. She is an actor I really don't get; she has the ability to seem vacant, and empty, and she strangles the life out of every line, using the wrong emphasis on words so that just about everything she says loses all meaning and becomes a monotone. I do not understand her appeal. The actor who played the boy was adequate.The story - plot - whatever is beside the point in this movie. It is more a string of lightly connected reminiscences from a young man's perspective. It starts nowhere and that's about where it ends up. We do get an idea as to the trajectory of these people's lives, and that is interesting. It is a slice of life from a specific point in time. It is interesting to see the fashions and other accouterments of that period in history - I did like that.On a final note - did this kid ever go to school?

veraarandas I really like all the 70's, punk and feminism approach. Even today, not every boy/men have the sensitivity to understand the women body and world. We still see men's disrespecting the "weak" sex. Every teenage boy should have an Abbie to have the possibility to understand our world, to act with kindness and equality. Good movie.

leeroyreddy My decision to watch this film was predicated entirely on it's cast, a stellar lineup that boasts Annette Bening, Elle Fanning, Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup and relative newcomer Lucas jade Zumann.Set at the tail end of the 1970's the story centers around Dorothea, a middle aged woman who is raising her teenage son in what, at the time, would be considered a fairly unconventional fashion.Realizing that her son is coming of age and with no fraternal influence or strong male role model present she seeks the help of Abbie, a young artist who lodges with the family, along with Julie - her son's best friend, to assist in the upbringing of her 15 year old son, Jamie.Dorothea, played by Bening, is a symphony of contradictions. All at once she is progressive and traditional. She is confident yet flaky. Bening portrays this complicated woman with such incredible conviction and poise, and despite the absence of grandstanding emotional outbursts she delivers what I believe to be an Oscar worthy performance. Fanning and Gerwig turn in fantastic performances too, both doing so with subtlety and charm which caused me to feel genuine empathy for their troubled characters. Lucas Jade Zumann puts forth a fine turn also as the sensitive young man who is seeking to find truth in his life and frustrated at his mother's reluctance to do the same.The film moves at mellow but fairly active pace and uses a nice technique involving duel narration from both Bening's character as well as her son. The soundtrack is also worthy of mention too. An excellent mix of songs from the period including two tracks from the Talking Heads - never a bad thing.In all, writer & director Mike Mills manages to draw from his own experiences as a young man an produce an incredibly sweet, heartfelt and sentimental piece of work that really captures this pivotal period of history. Tackling issues such as personal identity, fear of change and what it all means to let go of the past and embrace the future. A very fine film and outstanding performances from all involved!

Prismark10 Writer and director Mike Mills film follows the lives of five people living in a house in southern California in 1979 and three generation of women.Dorothea (Annette Bening) a divorced woman in her mid 50s is raising her teenage son Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann) and concerned to raise him properly especially as he has no male role models. Jamie is making his own way through life as a growing teenager, he has a close relationship with neighbour Julie (Elle Fanning) who sneaks into his bedroom often but she might be pregnant from a casual encounter with another teenager.Also living in the house is orange haired punk Abbie (Greta Gerwig), a young photographer and cancer survivor and hippy William (Billy Crudup) a kind of handyman and who makes things with his hands. He begins a relationship with Abbie but he is a popular guy with the ladies.The film follows how these oddball group of characters have an impact on the lives of Dorothea and Jamie as times are changing. Even President Carter is uncertain about the times. America is moving on to a new decade and indeed soon to a new president. With these changing times the characters are concerned what music and dance are considered cool or not.This is a well acted ensemble piece with the just right amount of kookiness. Look out for the awkward discussion about periods during a dinner party scene.The narrative moves ahead of time as the adult Jamie reflects back as to what happened to some of the characters, all that smoking Dorothea does will have an impact on her health some years for now.The film is rather uneven and I felt oddly paced, the running time is too long and there is little plot in it.