Mike Mills
A radio journalist embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew.
Despite the occasional meandering of the script, much of the film feels like an honest search for peace and a sense of balance in life.
20th Century Women is a remarkable character study of women in the 1970s, but it falls just shy of greatness due to its lack of plot.
The hair and sunny palm trees make 1970s California instantly recognizable, so when 20th Century Women specifies its locale at the beginning of the trailer, you should know that it’s a crucial piece of information. Santa Barbara, 1979 is presented as an idyll on the cusp, its orderly layout stretching to the edge of the sea and the new decade. As Annette Bening’s narration takes over, it becomes clear that the people inside the city are aware of the looming changes and are struggling to cope.