Excellent but underrated film

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

When this movie started, I didn't exactly know where it was headed. However, it took a turn and became so beautiful. The characters felt so real - all of them had their own struggles, their imperfections and their insecurities. Another thing which I loved about this film was that the women were so strong, yet so ordinary. The part on feminism was the absolute best!

What a strangely empty, self-indulgent and ultimately meaningless movie this is. What poor use of a reliable cast. Bening is wasted in the role of a middle-aged, single mother of a teen son. Her strength is in her ability to use words - to speak; her voice. She has been given so little to say here; the script is almost non existent beyond the basics required to drive one pointless scene to the next. In the moments where there might be a confrontation of some sort, she chokes - stuttering and spluttering in frustration because she has nothing to say. This is so frustrating. This is an actress who needs words. Yes, she has an interesting face and is very emotive facially and physically, but it is her voice we want to hear.Other actors are similarly wasted or misused. Billy Crudup who was wonderful in Rudderless (highly recommended) is reduced to nothing more than a quasi-romantic, handyman whose function is as a foil for the female actors and to spout occasional New Age nonsense. Greta Gerwig, another interesting actor is strangely muzzled in her role, and Elle Fanning is totally miscast as an angry, vulnerable teen who uses sexual promiscuity to act out against her therapist mother who appears to have no idea what is going on in her daughter's life. She is an actor I really don't get; she has the ability to seem vacant, and empty, and she strangles the life out of every line, using the wrong emphasis on words so that just about everything she says loses all meaning and becomes a monotone. I do not understand her appeal. The actor who played the boy was adequate.The story - plot - whatever is beside the point in this movie. It is more a string of lightly connected reminiscences from a young man's perspective. It starts nowhere and that's about where it ends up. We do get an idea as to the trajectory of these people's lives, and that is interesting. It is a slice of life from a specific point in time. It is interesting to see the fashions and other accouterments of that period in history - I did like that.On a final note - did this kid ever go to school?

The most significant aspect about this movie is that the main character (the kid) is in the middle of the story but also is not. It is more about the influence of other people on him then growing up. His education in different ways is the most interesting idea of the writers. Both Elle Fanning and Greta Gerwig are well written characters and add an new layer to the movie (esp. in the middle part and towards the end). Annette Bening as mother is also well performed and illustrates a contrast to the other two women although she is also busy with raising her child.The movie has a nice atmosphere, good dialogue (esp. when talking about the life) and convinces with mostly interesting characters and an all in all worthwhile story.In contrary the movie is quite wordy in the first part and the story is well written but sometimes to monotonous. I also think that they could've gone more in debt with the character development esp. of the kid's character.So should you see it? Yes! If you want to watch a soft drama about life and growing up you won't be disappointed. With some vivid scenes and the life itself as an overall topic the movie masters to create an optimistic atmosphere. If this isn't your style you should probably leave this one out.

An ode to women and the chaos they inspire in the world of a fatherless teenage boy."20th Century Women" has a laid back vibe and lots of period detail that will probably appeal to the audience members who were themselves coming of age in the period -- late 70s and early 80s -- in which the movie is set. It follows three principal female characters and charts the influence they have on our teenage protagonist. Annette Bening is the freewheeling mom, doing the best she can without someone to provide a positive male influence for her son. Greta Gerwig is the boarder who teaches him about girls and music. And Elle Fanning is his female friend who refuses to be his girlfriend. The conclusion he and the movie comes to seems to be that women are necessary but confusing. I found myself irritated by all of them. They spend all of their time trying to teach him what and how to think without ever letting him develop an identity of his own.The film is entertaining enough, but there is something lacking, and I'm not surprised that it wasn't one of the stand out movies of the year. I love Bening and would watch her in anything, and she does as much as she probably can with her character, but one can't help but wonder how much better a performance she could have given with better writing and directing at her back.Grade: B