Beginners Trailer: Ewan McGregor Combats Mid-Life Crisis by Talking to a Dog

Here comes more middle-age malaise, this time with a talking dog and Christopher Plummer as a father who comes out of the closet after 44 years of marriage. Ewan McGregor is trying to sort it all out, and he's also just met a beautiful girl played by the lovely Mélanie Laurent from Inglorious Basterds. Cheer up, buddy! I have a feeling everything's going to be alright.

All kidding aside the trailer for Beginners is actually one of the more charming ones that I've seen in a while. I never thought I'd say that about a trailer with a talking dog and non-stop voice over, but there's a sense dry wit, style and emotional warmth here that make the dramedy cliches tolerable, even welcome. And the cast doesn't hurt either.

Mike Mills previously graduated from designing album covers for Sonic Youth and The Beastie Boys and making music videos for bands like Pulp and Air to direct the better-than-it-should-have-been teen dramedy Thumbsucker. Here's hoping this film lives up to the promise; we could use some honest, life-affirming movies these days.

Verdict: Sold.

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