The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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Beginners
Drama · Romance · Comedy · 2011
Oliver meets the irreverent and unpredictable Anna only months after his father Hal Fields has passed away. This new love floods Oliver with memories of his father, who, following the death of his wife of 44 years, came out of the closet at age 75 to live a full, energized, and wonderfully tumultuous gay life – which included a younger boyfriend.
Movie details
Beginners
“This is what love feels like.”
2011 Drama · Romance · Comedy 1h 45m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.8 / 10
Community rating
Oliver meets the irreverent and unpredictable Anna only months after his father Hal Fields has passed away. This new love floods Oliver with memories of his father, who, following the death of his wife of 44 years, came out of the closet at age 75 to live a full, energized, and wonderfully tumultuous gay life – which included a younger boyfriend.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Beginners?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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The Bachelors
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A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.
Ordinary Love
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An extraordinary look at the lives of a middle-aged couple in the midst of the wife's breast cancer diagnosis.
Elena Undone
Drama · 2010
The wife of a pastor who preaches against homosexuality embarks on an affair with a female writer.
Hope Springs
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After thirty years of marriage, a middle-aged couple attends an intense, week-long counseling session to work on their relationship.
Make the Yuletide Gay
Drama · 2009
The holidays get overly festive as Olaf "Gunn" Gunnunderson, an out-and-proud gay college student, crawls back into the closet to survive the holidays with his parents. But when his boyfriend, Nathan, shows up at their doorstep unannounced, Gunn must put on a charade to keep the relationship a secret. With pressure mounting from all sides, will Gunn come out before the truth does?
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Mike Mills
Written by
Mike Mills
Ewan McGregor
Oliver Fields
Christopher Plummer
Hal Fields
Mélanie Laurent
Anna Wallace
Goran Višnjić
Andy
Kai Lennox
Elliot
Mary Page Keller
Georgia Fields
K
Keegan Boos
Young Oliver
Court is in session
Put Beginners on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.