We're All Beginners<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Beginners is a very persuasive film, largely due to nuanced performances\u2014and that includes the charming Jack Russell terrier who plays Arthur, a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2011\/06\/were-all-beginners\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"We're All Beginners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Beginners is a very persuasive film, largely due to nuanced performances\u2014and that includes the charming Jack Russell terrier who plays Arthur, a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2011\/06\/were-all-beginners\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Looking Closer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-06-15T16:12:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-10-02T17:23:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/0.tqn.com\/d\/movies\/1\/0\/A\/f\/X\/beginners-photo-melanie-laurent-ewan-mcgregor4.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey Overstreet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeffrey Overstreet\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2011\/06\/were-all-beginners\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2011\/06\/were-all-beginners\/\",\"name\":\"We're All Beginners\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-06-15T16:12:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-10-02T17:23:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e\"},\"description\":\"Beginners is a very persuasive film, largely due to nuanced performances\u2014and that includes the charming Jack Russell terrier who plays Arthur, a\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2011\/06\/were-all-beginners\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2011\/06\/were-all-beginners\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2011\/06\/were-all-beginners\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"We’re All Beginners\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/\",\"name\":\"Looking Closer\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e\",\"name\":\"Jeffrey Overstreet\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Jeffrey Overstreet\"},\"description\":\"Visit Looking Closer for Jeffrey Overstreet's latest writing on art, faith, and film. 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{"id":80349,"date":"2011-06-15T10:12:15","date_gmt":"2011-06-15T16:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/?p=80349"},"modified":"2012-10-02T11:23:56","modified_gmt":"2012-10-02T17:23:56","slug":"were-all-beginners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2011\/06\/were-all-beginners\/","title":{"rendered":"We’re All Beginners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/p>\n

Beginners<\/em> is a very persuasive film, largely due to nuanced performances\u2014and that includes the charming Jack Russell terrier who plays Arthur, a four-legged grief counselor (via subtitles).<\/p>\n

Unlikely as it sounds, director Mike Mills weaves all of these emotional storylines together\u2014and anthropomorphizes a canine\u2014without stumbling into sentimentality or emotional manipulation.<\/p>\n

It feels true, lived-in, every single moment.<\/p>\n

When I met Mills and his leading man, Ewan McGregor, at the Seattle International Film Festival, Mills said that he\u2019d given his actors a challenge. \u201cI remember saying, \u2018Help me not make this a narcissistic, self-pitying, sentimental memoir.\u2019 I love films that are naturalistic and organic, when you feel the truth of life is in there somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cast responded. And the film is wonderful.<\/p>\n

You can read my full review, including more from my conversation with director Mike Mills and star Ewan McGregor, at Image\u2019s blog, Good Letters<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"