The film’s conundrums are these: What is a ‘good man’? What are the ideal conditions for raising one? And might women, rather than men, be better qualified for the job?
The subject of this experiment is Jamie, son of single mother Dorothea (Annette Bening), who is increasingly unarmed by the distance between her and her child. “I know him less and less every day,” she says near the beginning as Jamie either rolls away from her on his skateboard down a Santa Barbara street or pogos to the Buzzcocks. It is 1979, and change is on everyone’s mind. Our Bodies, Ourselves is the bible of the times, and Jimmy Carter is talking about the national crisis of confidence. “Can’t things just be pretty?” asks Dorothea, and we know she’s not talking just about punk music, but motherhood, womanhood, boyhood, life in general.
Realizing her limitations, she elicits help from two women—Abbie (Greta Gerwig), who rents a room in her house, and Julie (Elle Fanning), one of Jamie’s high school friends. Together, they school the lad in life from a woman’s point of view; specifically, the thorny nuances of sex. It’s a bohemian existence of a motley crew that also includes William (Billy Crudup), a sweet touchy-feely guy who dabbles in ceramics and reassures us that men really can turn out OK.
Should you see it? Yes. Word has it, Bening may be in line for an Oscar.
