This is the film she should have gotten the Oscar for, no question. (I also feel the one she was robbed of a nomination for was her work on Little Women.) Clearly Saorise Ronan is Gerwig's muse and they should only work together from now onn.

I actually watched more than my share of movies with Gerwig even before Frances Ha. She was an independent film maker who worked in collaboration: I saw her work in Greenberg and the superb mumblecore films Nights and Weekends, a movie about a couple who are trying to make their long-distance relationship work. Gerwig never shied away from making her characters difficult to like, even when she was the lead.

Like Ronan, she is beautiful but not gorgeous which is no doubt why she never made it as a film star. She's the girl in the romcom who the boyfriend leaves behind when he falls in love with Natalie Portman or oLIVIA wILDE. There's never been a talent like Gerwig in this century when it comes to humanity not just in teenage girls or woman but all of us. She will get an Oscar someday. (If I'm honest I was glad when she wasn't nominated for Barbie because I would have been in immense conflict for Christopher Nolan, who is a completely different kind of master craftsmen.)

I was torn between Metcalf and Janney on Oscar night. I went for Janney because a decade earlier she had been robbed of a nomination for playing a mother iN jUNO. Back then, mothers in teenage movies were only supposed to be obstacles. Janney's character fought for her daughter even when things were hard and there's nothing harder than having your stepdaughter get pregnant. There's a good argument for the record, Janney's character there was a prototype for Metcalf's here.

And Ronan - she is incapable of giving a bad performance. I'm sure she has somewhere but I haven't seen it. I've never loved ahcarcter more than ones Ronan plays onscreen. You love her even when she's being difficult.

Of course the Oscars don't give Best Picture to comedies (or sci-fi, or horror, or action movies... another story) which is anothe factor. ) Gerwig took the Golden Globe for Best Screenplay and Best Comic Film that year and she's won her share of awards. She'll get there.