Beginners

3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (93 customer reviews)
Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer and Mélanie Laurent star in this uplifting comedy about a father's confession and how it inspires his son to open himself up to a true relationship.
  • Starring: Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer
  • Directed by: Mike Mills
  • Runtime: 1 hour 45 minutes
  • Release year: 2011
  • Studio: NBCU
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Beginners [Blu-ray]
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Product Details
Synopsis: Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer and Mélanie Laurent star in this uplifting comedy about a father's confession and how it inspires his son to open himself up to a true relationship.
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer
Supporting actors: Mélanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic, Mary Page Keller
Directed by: Mike Mills
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Runtime: 1 hour 45 minutes
Captions and Subtitles: Details
Release year: 2011
Studio: NBCU
MPAA Rating: Rated R for language and some sexual content
ASIN: B0060M9T9U (Rental) and B005QG2DOO (Purchase)
Rights & Requirements
Rental rights: 24 hour viewing period Details
Purchase rights: Stream instantly and download to 2 locations. Details
Format: Amazon Instant Video (streaming online video and digital download)

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Theatrical Release Information
  • US Theatrical Release Date: June 03, 2011
  • MPAA: Rated R for language and some sexual content
  • Production Company: Olympus Pictures, Parts and Labor, Northwood Productions
  • Filming Locations: Akbar - 4356 Sunset Boulevard, Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, USA | Biltmore Hotel - 506 S. Grand Avenue, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA | Cosmopolitan Counterpoint, 7017 Melrose / 5011 Franklin, Los Angeles, California, USA | Elysian Park, Los Angeles, California, USA | Glendale Narrows, Glendale, Los Angeles, California, USA

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Customer Reviews

A quirky movie, but very moving and emotional - in a good way. Daina B. Hodges  |  9 reviewers made a similar statement
After losing his father, Oliver has a chance meeting with the beautiful Anna. Andrew Ellington  |  10 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
66 of 72 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
There's an emotional acuity to this bittersweet 2011 dramedy that makes the loose structure of the first-person narrative easier to take than one would expect. Director/screenwriter Mike Mills bases his movie on a series of events that occurred in his own life. Just months after Mills' own mother passed away, his 75-year-old father announced that despite their 44-year marriage he was gay and intended to spend his remaining days exploring the hidden side of his libido. Cancer cut short those plans but not the life affirming spirit with which he explored his new lifestyle. It certainly helps that Mills cast 81-year-old Christopher Plummer as the father since his naturally erudite manner complements his character Hal's innately fey quality in a way that makes his late-blooming emotional emancipation all the sweeter. It's a lovely performance well worth remembering during next year's award season.

The protagonist of the story is Oliver, a sensitive cartoonist who is nearing forty and finding himself unable to sustain a lasting relationship. Family dysfunction has taken its toll on Oliver given that he discovers six months after his mother Georgia's death that Hal was in the closet most of Oliver's life, thus explaining why his parents never appeared to connect emotionally. Oliver is obviously concerned a similar fate of repressed feelings will befall him as he rummages through Hal's things after his death. Flashbacks show a childhood dominated by Georgia's eccentric manner with Hal relegated to the shadows of doorways always on his way to another business trip. Meanwhile, closer to the present, Oliver meets a free-spirited French actress named Anna, whose flirtatious manner gives way to her own vulnerability since she has her own family-related challenges in developing romantic connections. Mills intertwines his characters' destinies with the unwieldy nature of life in all its familiarity. There is little one could call pat and predictable in this film.

As Oliver, Ewan McGregor (last seen in the underrated The Ghost Writer) has never come across more comfortably onscreen, making it easy to empathize with his plight without the contrivance of standard Hollywood convention. He has a nice rapport with Mélanie Laurent (she was the vengeful Shosanna Dreyfus in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds), and her beguiling portrayal of Anna reminds me of Natassja Kinski during her early Polanski years. Playing Hal's much-younger lover Andy, Goran Visnjiæ does a surprisingly liberated turn completely submerging any remnants of his ER character, while another TV veteran, Mary Page Keller, brings a nice subversive edge to her performance as Oliver's somewhat hardened mother who had long ago accepted her husband's sexual orientation. This is a movie of small moments and quiet revelations, so it won't suit everyone's attention span, but it is worthwhile viewing for more patient, discriminating viewers.
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53 of 63 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely moving July 2, 2011
Format:DVD
I went with eagerness to this film. I tend to see many gay-themed movies. This one moved me enormously, and it wasn't the gay character, Christopher Plummer, who most affected me, although he was very, very good. What hit me hard about the movie was Ewan McGregor's deeply sensitive portrayal of a lonely man. This movie is not about how a straight son comes to grips with his gay father who comes out very late in life. It's about a man approaching middle age (McGregor) who realizes he has never really loved. I am rarely (and I mean rarely) been moved to tears in a movie. This was an exception.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars WHEN, AND HOW, DO WE BEGIN TO BE OUR TRUE SELF? March 1, 2012
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
When do we stop being our true self-- and why? And when, and why, after so many years, do we begin to be our true self again? These questions are asked and answered in Mike Mills' autobiographical film "Beginners."
Oliver Fields (Ewan McGregor;, playing a film variation of Mills himself) is a graphic designer who can't seem to communicate his feelings or maintain a long-term emotional relationship. Oliver, though not verbally expressive or emotionally demonstrative, does express his emotions through graphic design and illustration. The movie flashes back into the past and flashes forward again into the present or more recent past. As we see Oliver's relationship with his parents, we see how he became so emotionally conditioned. His parents endured a distant 45 year marriage, in an environment where emotions and secrets were never revealed. After his mother's (Mary Page Keller) death, his 75 year old father Hal (Christopher Plummer; "Hamlet," "The Sound Of Music", "Inside Man") finally comes out of the closet as a gay man. "And I don't want to be just theoretically gay," he says, "I want to do something about it." And, in the final years of his life, Hal embraces his life with gusto and passion ; becoming an active member of the gay community and having a loving relationship with a much younger man (Goran Visnjig). In the last years of his life, Hal finally begins to be his true self, and Oliver finally begins to know and love the father that he never knew before. In the end, Hal refuses to acknowledge the cancer that will end the life he has just begun to live.
In the present day, inspired by his father's example, Oliver decides to embark upon a relationship with the beguiling and seemingly free-spirited Anna (Melanie Laurent). Interestingly, in a movie filled with characters who can't communicate on one level or another, when Oliver and Anna first meet, she has laringytis and, therefore, cannot speak. Turns out, Anna also has issues concerning her distant father. In a sweet touch, an adorable dog named Arthur serves as the emotional connection between all the characters, past and present, dead or alive, here.
Christopher Plummer's deservedly award-winning performance is a subtle but wonderful revelation. You can see the twinkle in his eyes, you can feel his joy, when he finally embraces his true self. In many ways, Oliver is just as full of child-like wonder and astonishment in his relationship with Anna as his father was when he came out of the closet. I am thrilled that Plummer received awards, but I wish Ewan McGregor's equally heartfelt performance and Mike Mills' beautiful screenplay, had also received the same recognition. But, regardless of awards, "Beginners" is a warm and human film; to be cherished.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars A Perfect Film
I recommend this movie to everyone I know (anyone 30+ years old) . I love this movie, obviously, that's why I bought it :-P
Published 1 day ago by Johnny Prime
4.0 out of 5 stars It's a good movie
The movie in and of itself, to me at least, is about people, or, a person, that really just doesn't know exactly how to deal with relationships. Read more
Published 5 days ago by TM
4.0 out of 5 stars Nice acting
Sensitive and smart material. All around good non Hollywood story. Good dog too. See it. See the film. Ok. Go.
Published 15 days ago by Peanut Eater
5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful and Moving Film
A must see. Incredible acting. This movie dealt with hard, emotional issues in a very thoughtful way. It won't disappoint.
Published 1 month ago by D. Furno
3.0 out of 5 stars Beginners Starting Out Slow, but Like the Tortoise Comes Out a Winner.
I ordered this after watching a trailer, with such a star studded cast how could it not be wonderful. Read more
Published 1 month ago by 4Nbahu
5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous movie!
This movie is so delicate and sweet....Plus i love Ewan McGregor. You have to watch, to believe how great this movie really is and you have to watch a few times to appreciate... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Nichole Haase
5.0 out of 5 stars Being True to Life
This film really has moved me in so many ways that it is hard to descibe in words, justifiably. It is a film that one needs to see, especially in the mad-rat-race we all exsist... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Janorm
4.0 out of 5 stars It's never too late to change
You're never too old to change. That's the message of "Beginners," a muted indie drama about two men - a father and a son - who alter the course of their lives in unexpected and... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Roland E. Zwick
5.0 out of 5 stars Only the Rich Die Well
The story is imaginatively drawn by Mike Mills. Christopher Plummer is magnificent. Ewan McGregor is more American than Tom Cruise. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Skip
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Movie!!!!
I had read and heard from friends that this was a good movie and finally decided to watch it this week. Since then I have watched it two more times. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Jeanette Mclean
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