Beginners

"Beginners" is an excellent movie that deserves the chance to be seen by a lot more people than its "R" rating will provide.

It's a very simple story, beautifully written and directed by Mike Mills, and based to some extent on his own life. Hal (the matchless Christopher Plummer) is 75 years old and has cancer. He also is gay, and has come out of a long-punishing closet. His wife (the excellent Mary Page Keller) died several years earlier. His son, Oliver (Ewan McGregor) accepts the situation, and enjoys seeing his father happy.

The film, however, has a rating that will keep children out and cites "sexual situations" as a reason. I'm certain, however, that the reference deals with Hal's homosexuality and Oliver's easy acceptance rather than a couple of shots of Melanie Laurent's deeply shadowed breasts. So instead of a situation where families can see the movie and hold intelligent conversations, the MPAA wants everyone to bury their heads in the sand and keep the topic in deeper shadows than Laurent's breasts.

"Beginners" is a love story, and a charming one; actually, it's two love stories, one for Dad and one for Oliver with a young actress named Anna (Melanie Laurent). Plummer, of course, is a delight; when he finally accepts who he is, makes friends and finds a whole new social set, he's a joy to watch. Flashbacks to his married days, when Oliver was younger, are handled with dignity and charm, and Oliver himself, who also can be heard as a voice-over narrator, keeps the story going.

Laurent, remembered from "Inglourious Basterds," delivers stylishly as she and McGregor go through an old-fashioned, stylized mating dance.

Mills is a director with considerable talent. Trained as a graphic designer, his artistic talent shows through in a soft focus palette that gives the film a moody joy that is just another part of its charm. Kasper Tuxen is the solid director of photography.

Beginners opens today at the Plaza Frontenac

-- Joe