A son discovers the father he never knew, embracing the opportunity to reconnect while struggling in a relationship that seems doomed to failure in this intimate, melancholy drama from Thumbsucker director Mike Mills. At once subtle, heartfelt, and deeply compassionate, Beginners serves as a gentle reminder that we're never truly ready for the challenges life throws our way, even when we think we've seen it all.
Oliver (Ewan McGregor) is an illustrator with a history of failed relationships. Growing up, he spent much of his time with his eccentric mother, Georgia (Mary Page Keller), while his father, Hal (Christopher Plummer), supported the arts as the curator of a local museum. Though Oliver's parents never divorced, as a young boy he always sensed a distance between them -- a distance, Oliver discovers following his mother's death years later, that resulted from the fact that his father had lived most of his life as a closeted homosexual. With his wife gone and his son grown up, 75-year-old Hal decides to finally embrace his sexuality. Meanwhile, as Hal takes a young boyfriend (Goran Visnjic), Oliver falls for pretty French actress Anna (Mélanie Laurent) after a chance meeting at a costume party. The more intimate Oliver and Anna become, the more they both realize they share one defining character flaw -- the moment any relationship turns serious, they run away. For Oliver it means shutting himself in and obsessing over his work; for Anna it's as easy as checking into another empty hotel room in yet another strange city -- one of the perks, as it were, of having an itinerant job. Later, when Hal's health takes a turn for the worse, Oliver steps up to care for him while recalling quiet conversations and eventful trips to the museum with his unpredictable mother -- a dyed-in-the-wool eccentric. In time, Oliver starts questioning his relationship habits and begins to see his father in a whole new light.
At one point in Beginners, young Oliver is navigating as his mother drives the family car. He keeps pointing left. His mother, clearly exasperated yet wholly accepting of the fact that her son is still learning, responds simply, "Left again. Going in circles. I like it." In essence, Mills' gentle drama is about the moment we choose to break those cycles, and the way we respond when we notice others doing the same. It's a concept that holds boundless possibilities for exploring character, and by keeping the cast small, the perceptive writer/director affords himself the opportunity to do it in a way that genuinely resonates. We may not be able to personally identify with Oliver's relationship problems, or Hal's fears of losing everything he holds dear should his sexuality be discovered, but we can still recognize the patterns they fall into, and perhaps use them to draw parallels to our own lives.
If all of this makes Beginners sound more enlightening than entertaining, Mills has ensured that we remain fully invested in the characters by casting actors who bring complexity to roles that could have easily been one-dimensional. Even though Oliver's friends mock him for being overly austere, the more we get to know him, the more we gradually start to realize there is another, more colorful, side to his personality -- one that isn't afraid to partake in a bit of vandalism in order to blow off some steam -- and that while his relationship problems may inform his personality, they certainly don't define him. McGregor, equally adept at high-profile Hollywood fare and more challenging indie projects such as this, delivers a gorgeously low-key performance opposite esteemed Oscar nominee Plummer, whose nuanced portrayal of Hal may well end up being the highlight of a long and fruitful career. Co-star Mary Page Keller brings a sense of desperate quirkiness to the role of Georgia -- a woman who knowingly sacrificed a comfortable life for the love of a good man born at the wrong time; Visnjic portrays Hal's likeable young lover with a balance of self-realization and insecurity not usually granted to peripheral characters; and Laurent is a captivating combination of mysteriousness and curious accessibility as the actress who recognizes the sadness in Oliver's eyes.
Though finicky viewers may be put off by the heavyhearted mood of the film and Olivier Bugge Coutté's creative editing, Beginners is nevertheless a life-affirming drama that touches on complex themes with an honest, astute wisdom that extends well beyond the central issue of sexuality. For moviegoers in search of something other than the latest summer tent pole or second-run hit, this is precisely the kind of Hollywood counterprogramming that stimulates the intellect instead of simply tickling the corneas.