Beginners (1:44) 2011

Oliver (Ewan McGregor) is struggling with the death of his father, Hal (Christoper Plummer). After Oliver's mom dies, Hal comes out of the closet and lives an openly gay lifestyle at the age of 75. Oliver was not close to his dad growing up as his father was busily working at his profession as the director of an art museum. He sensed that a distance separated his mother and father but did not know the true reason until after his mother's death. Oliver has had four relationships with women and none of them lasted more than three years. After his dad's death, Oliver meets Anna, an actress who has relationship issues herself. In a series of flashbacks, Oliver relives his relationship with his dad after a diagnosis of his father's stage four lung cancer. As his father's illness progresses, Oliver and Hal become closer. After his father's death, Oliver needs to deal with his relationship with Anna. Will Oliver give himself permission to allow himself to have a permanent relationship with Anna? I went to this movie for two reasons, the trailer and a positive review. I absolutely disliked this movie for the first half hour. As the movie begins to show more and more of the relationship between Oliver and his ailing father, the more and more I began to really liked the movie. There were scenes of Oliver with his dying father and scenes showing Oliver cleaning up after his father's death that were extremely real. I recommend this film with the caution that the first half hour is somewhat dodgy.