"Beginners," directed by Mike Mills ("Thumbsucker"), asks the question, can you make a captivating movie, without broad conflict?

The actual motivating conflict of the movie is, what seemed to me, a high-concept plot. Oliver (Ewan McGregor) is the son of Hal (Christopher Plummer). After Hal's wife of forty-four years passes away, he tells his son he's gay, and wants to start living that particular lifestyle. This seemed like a Hollywood designed narrative, but turns out, director Mills experienced this exact scenario in his own life.

In intercutting scenes, that jump flawlessly throughout different points in Oliver's life, we also meet his mother, Georgia (Mary Page Keller) and new lover, Anna ( Mélanie Laurent of "Inglorious Basterds").

It is never explained beforehand, when a flashback, or jump in time is going to occur. However, it makes perfect sense to the viewer. The visual cues are enough to alert us. The story, then, becomes a puzzle, as to,what is the movie about? What is the theme?

We are left to decide for ourselves.

Anna is an actress, living out of her hotel. Her and Oliver enjoy silence, lovemaking, laughter and tears. They have emotional conflict, but there aren't many visual representations giving us easy answers. Most of the conflict is emotional, internal and unseen. It makes for a different moviegoing experience than most summertime fair.

Melodrama this ain't.

Scenes with Anna flow between memories of Oliver's father and mother. He meets her after they have both passed away. I wondered if the freudian interplay between images of Georgia and Anna were meant to be intentional. It was subtle.

Subtle is the way to describe this entire movie. "Beginners" feels almost like it is underwater. We're watching these characters through an aquarium.

Plummer turns in a fantastic performance as the out-of-the-closet twentieth century father. He asks for no pity. He represents "the greatest generation" flawlessly. He is utterly convincing as a man with gay feelings. It feels natural when he kisses his boyfriend.

Which brings us to another subtle character: Goran Visnjic plays Andy, Hal's younger lover. He is almost annoying. But we aren't quite sure. He is reserved and offering too much information at the same time. He represents an almost naive passion. Is Oliver annoyed by him? Perhaps. Does he hate him? The revelation of Oliver's thoughts is beautiful. I won't spoil it for you.

Again, I can't say enough good things about Plummer. He looks young and energetic when he needs to. And when closer to death, he seems as frail as a dying old man really is. There is a real chemistry between him and McGregor.

"Beginners" explores an oft forgotten reality, that Hollywood hates. Death as it really exists. For those of us that have watched a loved one pass away, we know the truth: Dying is in the details. There isn't much melodrama. There is numbness throughout the deep emotions. I call this, "the boredom of death." It hurts. And we can't waitfor it to end. Then we don't know how to handle the moment it happens.

Many other small moments that would've been designed for poignancy in any other movie, were not poignant. Like life, they just happened.

So, a strong theme of realism flows through "Beginners." At times I thought, "If I wanted to experience real life, I wouldn't be at this fucking movie." Then a scene would surprise me, and make me smile.

So can a narrative without overt conflict captivate? Maybe not. But is it interesting, touching and worth watching?

Absolutely.

It's times like this, when I wish I wasn't a critic. I'd love for this movie to just exist, without my ham-fisted commentary. However, I will use the power of the written word to urge others to see this imperfect (perhaps on purpose), beautiful film.

Caption: Christopher Plummer and Ewan McGregor in 'Beginners'

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