Review 592: 20th Century Women

 

20th Century Woman is a touchingly poignant comedy drama film and wonderful showcase for the talents of writer/director Mike Mills and lead actress Annette Bening.

In 1979 Santa Barbara, California, Dorothea Fields (Annette Bening) is a determined single mother in her mid-50s who is raising her adolescent son, Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann), at a moment brimming with cultural change and rebellion. Dorothea enlists the help of two younger women -- Abbie Porter (Greta Gerwig), a free-spirited punk artist living as a boarder in the Fields' home and Julie Hamlin (Elle Fanning), a savvy and provocative teenage neighbor -- to help with Jamie's upbringing.

Mike Mills imbues his screenplay with a wonderful sense of nostalgia. 

Lucas Jade Zumann's Jamie is someone whose surrounded by strong women whose influence is both empowering and confusing. During this process, he's discovering all of these things that were happening culturaly at the time such as music as well as women etc.