Beginners

satisfying and arty, ewan macgregor, and christopher plummer were really fine; the woman playing ewan's actor/girl friend was dazzling - worth all the attention and angst from dog and man! so a finely balanced piece. i suppose my only complaint is its self-consciousness about the newly gay dad bit - and, yes, i suppose its perception as a 'normal' (if there is such a thing) human inclination is just coming into conventional social coding strictures now, but it seemed to skewer some of the focus of the film; his dad's BF gets brought on only to make the son uncomfortable with his dad's previously-hidden inclinations. i did not sense any chemistry between plummer and BF, i have to say. it is nicely understated but i was never sure whether ewan character's love dilemma was center-stage or his dad's - and then there's the dying dad theme too which seems linked to the gay dad theme in a strained way (at least for me); but since overall it was entirely enjoyable, i suppose this tension is not too important - more a comment to the writer than to anyone else (since writer and director were same person, i suppose who better at resolving any potential anomalies than the writer/director in that case!).