Director's life on display in 'Beginners'

Charming but irritating, sincere but self-conscious, based in fact but often contrived, "Beginners" is the maddening third feature from writer-director Mike Mills, whose "Thumbsucker" became an indie success in 2005.

Judging by Mills' notes for the film, "Beginners" hews so close to his life that little has been changed but the names. Oliver Fields (Ewan McGregor) is a 38-year-old graphic designer in Los Angeles; his unstable mother, Georgia (an achingly good Mary Page Keller), has just died; his father, Hal (Christopher Plummer), announces he is gay.

Plummer gives depth and dignity to Hal, a kindly, horny grandfather-type who at 75 begins living his life openly and joyfully, joining a singing group and cuddling with Andy (Goran Visnjic), a nonmonogamous young hunk. In a few years, Hal will succumb to cancer; Plummer's scenes of regret and acceptance are heartbreaking.

Skipping through time, "Beginners" parallels several relationships with the slow-blooming romance between Oliver and a French actress named Anna (Mélanie Laurent, "Inglourious Basterds"). McGregor and Laurent can be truly captivating, creating a soulful, sorrowful magic together, even though Anna sometimes seems like a young screenwriter's dream girlfriend rather than a real person.

Speaking of false notes, there's also a dog named Arthur who communicates through subtitles and a group of Oliver's friends who talk too cleverly about everything. One minute, "Beginners" feels as fresh and alive as Truffaut's "Jules et Jim," the next, it feels like a pretentious teenager trying to out-quirk his classmates. That said, Mills is a bit of a beginner himself, and possibly one to watch.