Beginners
| Beginners | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster |
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| Directed by | Mike Mills |
| Produced by | Leslie Urdang Lars Knudsen Dean Vanech Jay Van Hoy Miranda de Pencier |
| Written by | Mike Mills |
| Starring | Ewan McGregor Christopher Plummer Mélanie Laurent Goran Višnjić |
| Music by | Roger Neill Dave Palmer Brian Reitzell |
| Cinematography | Kasper Tuxen |
| Editing by | Olivier Bugge Coutté |
| Studio | Olympus Pictures Parts & Labor |
| Distributed by | Focus Features |
| Release date(s) | September 11, 2010 (TIFF) June 3, 2011 (United States) |
| Running time | 104 minutes [1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English French |
| Budget | $3.2 million[2] |
| Box office | $14,227,969 [2] |
Beginners is a 2010 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Mills. It tells the story of Oliver (Ewan McGregor), a man reflecting on the life and death of his father (Christopher Plummer) while trying to forge a new romantic relationship with a woman (Mélanie Laurent) dealing with father issues of her own.
Beginners premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival, where the Los Angeles Times heralded it as a "heady, heartfelt film" with a cast who has "a strong sense of responsibility to their real-world counterparts".[3] Plummer received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, for his role.
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[edit] Plot
The film is structured as a series of interconnected flashbacks. Following the death of his father Hal, Oliver reflects on his relationship with Hal following the death of Oliver's mother Georgia. Shortly after her death Hal came out as gay to his son and began exploring that aspect of his life. Hal finds a boyfriend, Andy, and surrounds himself with a circle of gay friends. Hal is then diagnosed with terminal cancer. Following an extended illness during which Oliver helps care for him, Hal dies.
Several months after Hal's death, Oliver meets Anna, a French actress, at a party and they begin a relationship. Oliver's unresolved emotions around his father's death and his parents' life together, along with Anna's conflicted feelings about her emotionally unstable father, initially interfere with their relationship but they resolve to stay together.
[edit] Cast
- Ewan McGregor as Oliver
- Keegan Boos as young Oliver
- Christopher Plummer as Hal, Oliver's father.
- Mélanie Laurent as Anna, a French actress with whom Oliver begins a love affair.
- Goran Višnjić as Andy, Hal's much-younger lover.
- Kai Lennox as Elliot, Oliver's best friend and co-worker.
- Mary Page Keller as Georgia, Oliver's mother.
- China Shavers as Shauna, Oliver's friend and co-worker.
- Lou Taylor Pucci as The Magician
- Cosmo as Arthur
[edit] Production
The film is based on the true-life coming out of Mills' father at the age of 75, five years before his death.[4]
With cinematography by Kasper Tuxen, Beginners was filmed with the Red One digital camera.[5]
[edit] Reception
The film has received positive reviews upon release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Beginners received an average score of 81, based on 36 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim reviews".[6] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, saying, "It's a hopeful fable with deep optimism and a cheerful style that kids itself."[7] Allrovi (All Media Guide) called it "a life-affirming drama" and gave the film four-and-a-half stars out of five.[8]
[edit] Accolades
Beginners won the 2011 Gotham Award for Best Feature, shared with The Tree of Life.[9] Christopher Plummer won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture 2012, and the Denver Film Critics Society Award, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, the National Board of Review Award and the Online Film Critics Award, all for Best Supporting Actor.[10]
The film is nominated for the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor (Christopher Plummer) [11] and is also nominated for the Independent Spirit Awards for Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Male.[12] At the 84th Academy Awards, Christopher Plummer won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.[13][14]
[edit] References
- ^ "Beginners (15)". British Board of Film Classification. http://www.bbfc.co.uk/AFF277813/. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
- ^ a b Beginners at Box Office Mojo
- ^ Olsen, Mark (2011-09-05). "'Beginners' has a piece of Mike Mills' soul". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/sep/05/entertainment/la-ca-indie-focus-20100905. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
- ^ Bradshaw, James (2011-09-10). "Beginners: A late dash out of the closet". The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Ontario, Canada). http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/tiff/news-and-features/beginners-a-late-dash-out-of-the-closet/article1702690. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
- ^ Dargis, Manohla (2011-06-02). "‘Beginners,' With Christopher Plummer and Ewan McGregor- Review". The New York Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/06/03/movies/beginners-with-christopher-plummer-and-ewan-mcgregor-review.html.
- ^ "Beginners". Metacritic CBS Interactive. http://www.metacritic.com/movie/beginners. Retrieved 2011-08-31.
- ^ Ebert, Roger. "Beginners". Chicago Sun-Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110608/REVIEWS/110609984.
- ^ http://www.allrovi.com/movies/movie/beginners-v527371/review
- ^ Szalai, Georg (November 28, 2011). "Gotham Awards 2011: 'Tree of Life', 'Beginners' Tie for Best Feature". The Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/gotham-awards-2011-charlize-theron-gary-oldman-david-cronenberg-266731. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
- ^ Cangialosi, Jason (January 11, 2012). "Denver Film Critics Society Announces 2012 Award Winners". Yahoo! Movies. http://movies.yahoo.com/news/denver-film-critics-society-announces-2012-award-winners-172600716.html. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
- ^ http://www.pressacademy.com/award_cat/current-nominees/
- ^ http://www.spiritawards.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/SA_12_nomonesheet.pdf
- ^ "Oscars: Christopher Plummer wins best supporting actor; 'Hugo' leads with five awards". Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/oscars/chi-oscars-academy-awards-main-20120223,0,1626683.story. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
- ^ "Nominees and Winners for the 84th Academy Awards". Academy Awards of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars). http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/84/nominees.html. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
[edit] External links
- 2010 films
- American films
- 2010s comedy-drama films
- American comedy-drama films
- American independent films
- American LGBT-related films
- English-language films
- Films based on actual events
- Films set in Los Angeles, California
- Films shot in Los Angeles, California
- Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winning performance
