Ewan McGregor

Christopher Plummer

Mélanie Laurent

Goran Visnjic

Kai Lennox

Mary Page Keller

Keegan Boos

China Shavers

Melissa Tang

Amanda Payton

Luke Diliberto

Lou Taylor Pucci

Jennifer Lauren Grant

Reynaldo Pacheco

Jodi Long

Bruce French

Leslie Shea

Michael Chieffo

Jennifer Hasty

June Saunders

Catherine McGoohan

Terry Walters

Lana Young

AlgeRita Wynn

Regine Redwing

Sunday Burke

Patrick Birkett

Sabera Wise

Rafael J. Noble

Jose Yenque

Rodney Saulsberry

Bambadjan Bamba

Hana Hwang

Mike Mills

Leslie Urdang

Dean Vanech

Miranda de Pencier

Jay Van Hoy

Lars Knudsen

Kasper Tuxen

Shane Valentino

Olivier Bugge Coutté

Jennifer Johnson

Nicole Daniels

Fran Giblin

Joan Scheckel

Carrie A. Tyson

Dave Chambers

Miranda July

Robin Urdang

Brian Reitzell

Roger Neill

Dave Palmer

Wes Ball

Mark Levinson

Courtney Bright

Christopher Blauvelt

Rod Smith

Coryander Friend

Susumu Tokunow

Nancy MacLeod

Leslie Shatz

Christine Huynh

Justin Barber

Bradley Hawkins

Ryland Jones

Sandra Poland

Kameron Lennox

Tina Roesler Kerwin

Drama

Romance

Comedy

Beginners

Parts & Labor

Olympus Pictures

Northwood Productions

Canada

United States of America

English

Français

coming out

cancer

relationship

gay parent

lgbt

older man younger man relationship

father son relationship

Andres Gomez

A really delightful drama with superb performances and a great editing.

Filipe Manuel Neto

**The movie works well, but there are some details in the story told that, to me, make little sense. Am sorry.**

Generally, I don't really like films that are too apologetic, that is, films that use cinema to advocate and defend causes, political ideas, social movements. It's OK to be part of the plot of a movie, but to make a movie for defense/publicity of these ideas is another very different thing. When I started to see this movie, I was scared to find just another movie defending the gay lobby, and its social and political flags.

Well, now that I'm done, I'm relieved that my fears didn't go beyond that. The film has a fairly regular script, which seeks to tell an interesting story, focused on how a man begins a very passionate relationship with a charming Frenchwoman he has just met. He was very depressed because of the recent death of his father, and while the film tells us how the couple evolves in their new relationship, it also tells us how was, lately, the relationship between him and his father who, shortly after widowing, decides to tell his son that he is sick and is going to die of cancer and, moreover, that despite having been married, he has been a homosexual all his life, suffering at the cost of that secret and having a secret boyfriend.

The strong point of the film is not only the dramatic story told (I never felt it was a comedy, as some say, despite having few funny moments in between), but also the original way in which it is told to us, with flashbacks and in a very visual way, using photographs and a very visual and interesting narrative style. There are certain moments when I felt that the narrator (the son) was actually presenting slides to the audience, which is us. And with that, I felt that Mike Mills, the director, took a calculated risk, and it turned out very well. Unfortunately, I felt that the homosexual subplot is not as credible. I simply cannot conceive how such a sick and elderly man would be in a loving relationship with someone who is almost his son's age. It's not a situation I can believe in… not because it's a gay relationship… but because of the age difference and health situation.

In addition to the good story and the elegant way in which it is told, the film brings us a luxurious cast of great actors, with an evident highlight for the veteran Christopher Plummer, who gives us a moving and extremely worthy portrait of that father. By his side, and equally impactful and powerful, Ewan McGregor, in one of the strongest works I remember seeing him do. And this is not an understatement, as we know that McGregor is a great actor, and he has already proved to us what he can do on other occasions. Melanie Laurent, fresh out of "Inglorious Bast…ds”, has another excellent work here, although her character is not as remarkable and interesting as the two male leads. Goran Visnjic, unfortunately, has the most thankless role. I felt like he's really the most in the movie.

Technically, the film is discreet, but effective, and bets a lot on interesting and well-crafted cinematography, with visuals that we can appreciate as the film unfolds. The editing is good, the pace is pleasant, and the sets and costumes are within what we could have expected to find. The soundtrack doesn't stand out or stand out.

Beginners( 2011)

This is what love feels like.

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A review by Andres Gomez

Written by Andres Gomez on Tue Sep 03 2013

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