Beginners (2010)

Director Mike Mills

From Mike Mills, the writer/director of Thumbsucker, comes a new comedic drama about how deeply funny and transformative life can be, even in its most serious moments. Beginners unfolds through two intertwined storylines of Oliver and his father, Hal: in the present day, Oliver grudgingly attends a Halloween party where he meets Anna, an alluring French actress. But even as their budding courtship progresses, Oliver finds himself constantly dwelling upon his recently deceased father’s last years. At the age of 75, shortly after the death of his wife, Oliver’s father Hal came out of the closet. Disregarding his advanced years and a diagnosis of terminal cancer, Hal gleefully embraced his senior bon vivant lifestyle: hitting the clubs, buying a new wardrobe, and, eventually, dating a new boyfriend half his age. Throughout the film, these two narrative strands subtly illuminate each other, as Oliver strives to reconcile his father’s exemplary lessons on hope, courage, and romance to his own cloistered life. Drawing upon autobiographical events, Beginners imaginatively explores the hilarity, confusion, and surprises of love. – Seattle International Film Festival 2011