On a sultry night in Oxford I decided to give Beginners a try at the Phoenix in Jericho. It could only be an improvement on the last film I saw there: The Princess of Montpensier - French and very very dull. I'd seen a trailer for Beginners and as it stars Christopher Plummer (as a fan of The Sound of Music I have a soft spot for him) and Ewan McGregor (possibly my favourite actor ever) as well as Melanie Laurent who starred in Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, I felt compelled to see it. As it turns out the trailer rather misrepresents this quirky little film. It presents it as a story of a pensioner who discovers the gay scene after his wife dies, and how his son comes to terms with his father being out and proud. In fact Hal's exploration of his sexuality happens mostly off-screen and is incidental to the main plot-line which is his slow deterioration as he dies of cancer, and how Oliver (McGregor) comes to terms with both his parents deaths, and struggles to maintain a relationship with charismatic actor Anna, who he meets at a party shortly after his father's death.
Despite my slightly skewiff expectations I thoroughly enjoyed this film. I'd expected something rather jolly and fun, whereas it turns out the film gets more and more melancholy, and the slightly happier ending seems somewhat tacked on. Nonetheless there's a lot of gentle comic relief to be had, primarily in the shape of Hal's small Jack Russell Terrier, Arthur, who has the most expressive face I've ever seen on a dog, and who gets comedy subtitles. Any film, in my opinion, can be improved with a showbiz dog and this is no exception. The love story between Anna and Oliver is also very sweet and diverting at first, not least their almost-too-perfect first meeting at a fancy dress party where he is dressed as Freud and she has laryngitis and communicates via a small note-pad. Laurent as Anna is effervescent but little different from various other 'ideal love-interests', though of course the story is not primarily about her. Ewan McGregor as Oliver is the beating heart of the film and it's a delight to see him untrammelled by contrived storyline or character - the film has a very naturalistic style a lot of the time and the character of Oliver is very well realised and fleshed out. You can;t help but feel for him as he's dealing with his father's refusal to accept that he's unwell, or expressing his fears about his relationship with Anna. Him and the dog together make this film a joy to watch.
His father's story is interesting and the writer has managed to find a fresh take on the 'discovering your sexuality' storyline by having an 80 year old man come out, and it's touching to see Hal's joy at finally being able to express himself honestly. The scenes with his lover, Andy (Goran Visnjic, a million miles away from Dr Kovac), are also very sweet. However Hal had accepted the fact that he was gay in his teens and his wife was well aware of it, so there's no emotional journey here, it's simply his behaviour that has changed, which means that this could never be the central arc of the film. Much of Hal's exploration happens off-camera or in the background and we see surprisingly little of it. As for Oliver, although obviously discomforted by the fact that he was unaware of his father being gay, he's very accepting and simply relieved to see his father so happy and occupied during his last few years of life.
I enjoyed the low-key style of this film; it's 50% indie romance, very much in the mould of Shopgirl. However the director spices things up with a non-chronological story - Oliver meets Anna in 2003 after Hal has died but his relationship with her is informed by his parents' relationship and his recent bereavement so we see his memories of his mother and father interspersed through the love story. The other half of the plot involving Hal's cancer is very touching and adds a lot of gravitas to the film but thankfully doesn't become too heavy-going, as it was I could hear a lot of sniffling from my fellow Phoenix patrons! I really loved this film and would definitely see it again for the performances alone. A perfect viewing on a hot summer night.
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