Writer & Director / Mike Mills (BEGINNERS, THUMBSUCKER)
Stars/ Annette Bening, Lucas Jade Zumann, Greta Gerwig, Elle Fanning and Billy Crudup
There is a coming of age and a going of age story happening simultaneously in 20TH CENTURY WOMEN, a semi-autobiographical comedic drama from writer/director Mike Mills.
It’s 1979 in Santa Barbara, California. Chain-smoking single mum Dorothea (Four-time Oscar-nominated actress Annette Bening, who was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her work here), is doing her best at raising her 15 year-old son, Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann) in a boarding house with several other tenants. Also living in the share-house is William (Billy Crudup), a car mechanic and a young photographer who once attended art school in New York, Abbie (Greta Gerwig). As Dorothea struggles to connect with her rapidly maturing teenage son, she asks Abbie and Julie (Elle Fanning), Jamie’s best friend, to help her raise him.
It’s only fitting that this rather unusual request from Dorothea, which acts as the plot of this film, is presented in quite an offbeat tune. In actual fact, Mike Mills has taken inspiration from his adolescence, having been raised by his mother and sisters, in telling this fictionalised story. This quirky dramedy is easily able to form a connection with audiences, thanks largely to the quality of its Oscar-nominated screenplay and the rich performances from the ensemble cast.
A fine example to give of just how well-proportioned the writing is sits with structure of the storyline. All throughout 20TH CENTURY WOMEN, audiences swing back and forth from present day to the past of each of its main characters, one at a time. The necessary introductions not only add another dimension to the colorful characterisation work, they also provide a clearer understanding of what contribution each will make in raising Jamie. There’s no doubt that this modus operandi fills the gaps of a plot with less trajectory in its sight. To further illustrate the excellence of Mills’ script, the honesty of the writing and its characters gorgeously extracts shades of humour from places it does not normally reside. And finally, the music department really ground 20TH CENTURY WOMEN in its timeline with an irresistible soundtrack featuring songs from the likes of Talking Heads and The Clash.
20TH CENTURY WOMEN deserves to and will hopefully find itself a healthy 21st century crowd.
3 ½ stars
Viewer Discretion/ M (sexual references, coarse language, drug use and nudity)
Trailer / 20TH CENTURY WOMEN
Moviedoc thanks Entertainment One and The Backlot Studios for the invite to the screening of this film.
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