Yes, No, Maybe So: "Beginners"
Friday, January 28, 2011 at 7:00PM We've been so caught up in Oscar nominations, we've been letting other things slide. So herewith the return of "Yes, No, Maybe So" in which we pre-judge movies we haven't even seen by their trailers. Today's topic is the new drama (dramedy?) Beginners about a man whose elderly father comes out to him. It opens in June, marking two consecutive cutesy gay-themed films for (We Love Him) 'Phillip Morris' (Ewan McGregor).
Yes. Beginners has a fine cast: enduring screen star Christopher Plummer is the gay dad; Melanie Laurent, hot off of Inglourious Basterds, is Ewan's girl; And then there's Ewan himself who, as I've shared before, has the face that makes me happiest at the movies. It's a personal thing that I can't define but to look at him is to experience joy. This is not to say "he's hot" or anything sullied by baser instincts. It's just joy. It's not unlike how I respond to Gene Kelly or Greer Garson in old movies. Wasn't Ewan just sweetness personified in ILYPM? This trailer also gives off a bit of a mid 80s Woody Allen vibe. You know, back when Woody made bittersweet and even warm films that weren't plagued with overt misanthropy. Plus it opens with a long conversation between Ewan and his dog and people who talk lovingly to animals are the kind of people that make us happy even when they don't have magic serotonin faces like Ewan's.
No. Eeek, this reaction is super personal too. (Damn you Hannah! for asking for this particular episode of Yes No Maybe So). Depictions of older gay men in film and television make me t-o-t-a-l-l-y nervous because I hate ageism (always have, even when I was much younger) and most depictions of elderly gay characters take on some form of tragedy or patheticness. Like, I had to stop watching Brothers & Sisters when the uncle came out because the stories just got so immediately I'm Pathetic With a Capital P and don't even get me started on Queer as Folk's completely vile ageism. Truth: Everyone gets older every minute including people who think they never will so let's all stop pretending like aging is a sin. It's not good. It's not evil. It's not triumphant (survival) or tragic (yikes, you're approaching death!). It just is. So anyway. I get nervous. I hope the situations and the relationships are handled sensitively in the movie and I hope they don't reinforce all those boring ol' stereotypes that nobody needs since one day we will all be Christopher Plummer's age (if we're lucky to live that long). Yes, even Hailee Steinfeld. ;)
Maybe So.
Here is where we discuss the many ways in which this movie could go right or wrong. First you've got that a-dor-a-ble dog whose thoughts are subtitled. But the laugh line music is missing and the scene is lit and cut so pleasantly that it's not screaming BIG LAUGH. NYUCK NYUCK WINK WINK which is... comforting. Then you've got the hand drawings and the 'rollerskating where you're not supposed to bits' which is... is the latter a lift from Steve Martin's LA Story? There are worse films to steal from. So is Beginners filled with gaggy cuteness or is it just beautifully humanistic and completely adorable?
What's your best hunch?
Are you a Yes, No or Maybe So?
Beginners, Ewan McGregor, LGBT, Yes No Maybe So
Reader Comments (19)
I think I'm almost 100% yes.
I mean we're judging the trailer, and it just makes me wanna watch it. I can't really see anything wrong with it.
Amen, Amir.
Aww. This looks so heartfelt. I'm a yes.
your ageism homophobia makes me sick.....
thumbsucker was mildly amusing but sweet with an open heart.
so with this cast, the dog and the images, i'm a yes!
and the story feels very specifc and fun (good fun).
didn't this play at some festival? i seem to be remembering of its existence some months ago. anyone remember how it was greeted?
Amir -- i really want to see it too. should have ended with YES. but the idea of hte series is that i have to find ways to go "no" or "maybe so" -- managing my expectations ;)
Melanie Laurent is a YES, everything else is a maybe bordering on no.
Nathaniel- haha, i know.
but you usually end the post with your own opinion. this time it was just a question, so i wondered...
p.s. it's actually played at TIFF this year.
the reviews were pretty good. most people thought it's a heartfelt and sweet film, and from what i gathered, the gay theme is played out more subtly than you worried it would.
I'm an absolute yes! The story looks very adorable and Melanie Laurent will get me to go see anything. Haha!
Despite the fact that Christopher Plummer seems to really want an Oscar (minority with a terminal illness), I'm a total YES.
Yes, because Ewan McGregor films are almost always yesses for me, even if it takes me a while to get around to some of them.
I'll watch anything Ewan McGregor does. I've seen those motorcycle diaries of his own with his buddy arount the world on youtube clips, I have even seen an episode (=part) of what seemed to be a British Tv movie with multiple stories where he played a gay man and he was more adorable than in I love you PM. I even saw that movie with Hugh Jackman and Michelle Williams, which wasn't very good, did anyone else see it? I'd even watch another Cassandra´s Dream. So happy for him he was in The Ghost Writer and he got some European recognition for that, at least.
Fanboy, you say? Absolutely.
I like the look of it.
The subtitled dog reaction shots kind of threw me, given how underplayed they are and how realistic everything else seems.
It's just nice to finally see "Academy Award Nominee, Christopher Plummer" in a trailer!
I'm a yes.
Thanks for the breakdown Nat! Sometimes, it's nice to get out of the Oscar/FilmBitch heat.
I'm pretty much a Yes -- mostly for the actors (Ewan! Melanie! Christopher!) in the film. Who would've thought to put them together? Also, it's nice to see Ewan in this romantic role, where he's front and center, carrying the film. Not really sure where it's will go exactly, but the trailer at least made me think the film might give us a breath of fresh air. Fingers crossed!
That's probably the best shot Christopher Plummer will ever have at winning an Oscar.
Kyle -- funny. i didn't even think of Oscars while watching this but maybe you're right.