Beginners

Director: Mike Mills
Writer: Mike Mills
Cast: Christopher Plummer, Ewan McGregor, Mélanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic
Theatrical Release Date: June 3, 2011 8:37 AM
Awards: Winner: 2012 Academy Awards Best Supporting Actor
Criticwire: B
On The Web IMDB Entry

Synopsis: When his seventy-one-year-old father (Christopher Plummer) comes out of the closet, Oliver (Ewan McGregor) must explore the honesty of his own relationships. [Synopsis courtesy Toronto International Film Festival]

Reviews

REVIEW | A Gay Dad and a Mid-Life Crisis: Mike Mills's "Beginners"

The delicate blend of playful drama in "Beginners," the second narrative feature by California-based filmmaker and graphic designer Mike Mills ("Thumbsucker"), is a small wonder to behold. Mills fashions the set-up for an overwrought, thoroughly depressing character study into an oddly charming come...
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News

"Beginners" Set to Close Sarasota

Writer/director Mike Mills' "Beginners," which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last September, will serve as the closing night film of the 13th annual Sarasota Film Festival. The film's star, Christopher Plummer ("The Sound of Music"), will be on hand to accept this year's Cinem...
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Mike Mills' "Beginners" to Open 54th San Francisco International Film Festival

Mike Mills' "Beginners" will open the 54th San Francisco International Film Festival April 21 at the historic Castro Theatre. Mike Mills and Ewan McGregor are expected to attend and participate in a post-screening Q&A.
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13th Sarasota Film Festival Kicks Off with "Page One," Locks Down Full Lineup

The Sarasota Film Festival today announced their full lineup for the 13th edition of the event, which kicks off April 8 with Andrew Rossi's documentary, "Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times," and wraps April 17 with Mike Mills' "Beginners." Errol Morris' latest, "Tabloid," serves as this year...
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Cinema Eye Honors Nominees for Genre-Bending Award Include 'Beginners,' 'My Joy'

The Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking have announced the five nominees for their second annual Heterodox Award, which honors a narrative film that "imaginatively incorporates nonfiction strategies, content and/or modes of production." Last year's winner was Matt Porterfield f...
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Sundance Institute Renews Film Forward

The Sundance Insititute has announced the renewal of their Film Forward program. The ten films selected for the program will travel to eight domestic and international locations and be featured in a special presentation at UNESCO in Paris, France.
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As Toronto Closes, Focus Picks Up "Beginners"

Even as the Toronto International Film Festival closed out today, the business of the festival continued with Focus Features picking up Mike Mills' "Beginners." The specialty outfit, which only rarely acquires titles at festivals - "The Kids Are All Right" being another notable exception - plans a 2...
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The 5 Indie Films You Must See This June

There's a whopping 25 films listed on indieWIRE's June calendar, which is why we're offering monthly must-see lists to make your cinematic decision-making as easy as possible. From Jean-Luc Godard to Christopher Plummer, documenting The New York Times to imitating Michael Caine, check out indieWIRE'...
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Box Office: "The Trip" Tops Debuts; "Paris" and "Tree" Continue Their Success Stories

While J.J. Abrams "Super 8" exceeded expectations at the studio box office, Michael Winterbottom's "The Trip" led debuts in the specialty market, taking in decent numbers for distributor IFC Films.
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Interviews

TIFF '10 | Mike Mills On "Beginners," a Love Letter To His Father

"As a filmmaker, I don't really believe in objectivity or fiction or documentary," "Beginners" director Mike Mills told indieWIRE yesterday afternoon. "All those categories I find are more professional categories than real things. As a son of a man who pretended to be one thing for 33 years of my l...
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Honor Roll 2011 | Mike Mills on "Beginners," a Love Letter to his Father

"As a filmmaker, I don't really believe in objectivity or fiction or documentary," "Beginners" director Mike Mills told Indiewire. "All those categories I find are more professional categories than real things. As a son of a man who pretended to be one thing for 33 years...
Read More »
Mike Mills on "Beginners," a Love Letter to his Father

"As a filmmaker, I don't really believe in objectivity or fiction or documentary," "Beginners" director Mike Mills told indieWIRE. "All those categories I find are more professional categories than real things. As a son of a man who pretended to be one thing for 33 years of my life and then was anot...
Read More »