TRAVIS BYRAM'S MOVIE REVIEWS

My film studies professor would never forgive me if I called Greta Gerwig's directorial debut Lady Bird "real" or "relatable." "'Real' as compared to what?" she would say, her face scrunched up. "Relatable as compared to who?" So as to not disrespect her good name by copping out with generalizations, I'll call Lady Bird humble, hilarious, and easily one of 2017's finest films. It's a coming-of-age movie not devoid of cliches, but also not devoid of a massive heart. Saoirse Ronan stars as the titular character, whose birth name is Christine. The deviation from the religious-sounding name is intentional: Lady Bird goes through the motions of Catholic school but she's no saint. She argues with her tough-love mother (Laurie Metcalf, who all but has the engravings of her name on the Oscar statue), romances with her theatre castmate Danny (the recently Oscar-nominated Lucas Hedges) and goofs off with her best friend Juli...

Without its more racy bits, Brooklyn is a film that could have been made decades ago, even as far back as the '50's. It's got an absolutely timeless feel to it, which makes it the even more surprising that it was adapted from a moderately recent novel from 2009. So how does John Crowley's film make you feel like you're watching a story that could be updated today with little change besides clothes and era? It's its evergreen material of youth vs. love, and all the entanglements that eternal struggle weaves into its many victims' lives. Saoirse (Sair-sha. It's Sair-sha! What a lovely Irish name, but I'm so desperate just to call you Sarah) Ronan carries this entire thing on her back, no matter how wonderful and strong the supporting cast around her is. It's not her fault, it's the nature of the story. We're not going to care who she picks romantically if we're not invested in her. We're not going to feel as sad if something devas...