EVER SINCE THE trailer for Saoirse Ronan’s new movie Lady Bird dropped in September, we have been eagerly awaiting the release of the film in Ireland.
After two nominations for Oscars in the past, perhaps Lady Bird will be the film that finally gets Saoirse Ronan a well deserved Academy Award. The 23-year-old actress stars as a restless teenager desperate to get out of her stifling and uncultured town in California.
It sounds like your run of the mill coming-of-age story, but the reaction from critics is evidence enough that this is a very special film. The New York Times described Ronan as ‘one of the most formidable actors in movies today‘ in their review of the title.
On top of all of the praise it has received in the media, Lady Bird is now the first movie to overtake Toy Story 2 (which is a pretty flawless film tbh) as the title with the most consecutive ‘fresh reviews’.
There are zero ‘Rotten’ reviews against this film. This is a pretty big deal. Rotten Tomatoes wrote a post about the significance of this on their website:
1999′s Toy Story 2 originally made the record with 163 Fresh reviews, and today, Lady Bird – Greta Gerwig’s coming-of-age circa 2002 film, starring Saoirse Ronan – sets the news tandard with 164 Fresh reviews (and counting).
They weren’t joking when they said ‘and counting’, because it has since increased to 170, leaving a comfortable distance between Lady Bird and Toy Story 2.
Rotten Tomatoes also received comment from Lady Bird writer and director Greta Gerwig:
This is completely amazing and so incredibly appreciated by the entire team that made Lady Bird. We put our heart and souls into this movie and the last step of this deeply collaborative art form of filmmaking is giving the film to the audience and the film critics. That there has been such a warm reception is a dream come true.
Gerwig added that the cast and crew are ‘using the tomato emoji more than [they] ever thought possible’.
Even Armond White, the known contrarian who destroyed Toy Story 3′s perfect score couldn’t help but applaud Lady Bird, admitting that ‘the film’s conflicts are surprisingly touching’.
Just last night, Ronan received an award for Best Actress at the IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards for her role in Lady Bird.
It’s a real shame that we have to wait until February to see this movie in Ireland.
