Featured Audience Ratings

• Cynthia S

  
  I tried to like this movie. It was full of very familiar faces, but that wasn't enough for me. It just seemed to go on, and on, with very few changes. It became pointless to me, and I actually had to end it by the 2hr mark...

• Wahida K

  
  First of all, for Ruffalo fans: Mark Ruffalo`s appereance in the Movie was like a "cameo". Second: As much other reviewers has been focusing on Director but not many mentioned the Plot or the Actors, especiall the Plot, I thought to give a small clue to all those who are… More
  First of all, for Ruffalo fans: Mark Ruffalo`s appereance in the Movie was like a "cameo". Second: As much other reviewers has been focusing on Director but not many mentioned the Plot or the Actors, especiall the Plot, I thought to give a small clue to all those who are interested. to movie:: I think the accident what the plot is based on was just a subsidiary. I think all around I had the feeling it was about the problems Teenages are confronted with these days. Interesting were the conversations and Debattes in classrooms. And other small things which we actually all know from our teenage years. I had to rate it at four. All around this Movie make sense atlast if you really pay attention. I would recommend it to deep thinkers. A user: <i> This movie kind of went there and dies</i> I thought that at first too, as said deep thinking is required I guess.

• Bruce B

  
  This movie kind of went there and dies. It set a plot right off the bat and that was it. Enjoyable yes, interesting ahhh? The acting just wasn't then best can only give it 3 Stars 8-17-12

• Stella D

  
  looks like it's a love it or hate it kinda film. i watched the cut version and the editing problems are clearly visible, in the last hour especially. due to the choppy effect of truncated subplots i first gave it 3 stars but i couldn't stop thinking about it. it's an… More
  looks like it's a love it or hate it kinda film. i watched the cut version and the editing problems are clearly visible, in the last hour especially. due to the choppy effect of truncated subplots i first gave it 3 stars but i couldn't stop thinking about it. it's an incredibly operatic melodrama about a clearly unlikeable character but the performances are so strong that they really make it work, especially anna paquin as a teenager u can't help but loathe yet can't stop watching

• Mark W

  
  "Margaret" marks the second feature of writer/director Kenneth Lonergan after his Oscar nominated debut "You Can Count On Me". It was actually made in 2008 but took years to gain a release as there was a serious of law-suits involved in the editing process. It… More
  "Margaret" marks the second feature of writer/director Kenneth Lonergan after his Oscar nominated debut "You Can Count On Me". It was actually made in 2008 but took years to gain a release as there was a serious of law-suits involved in the editing process. It boasts both Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack as producers - the two of which passed away before the film even seen the light of day. After all the legal wranglings were ironed out, the theatrical version released was supposedly edited by Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker and despite some apparent structural flaws, this still comes out as a very emotional and interesting drama. Lisa Cohen (Anna Paquin) is a 17-year-old high-school student who, one day, distracts a bus driver (Mark Ruffalo), resulting in the death a woman crossing the street. Through time, this tragic accident eats away at her and through her frustration and sense of guilt she begins to emotionally brutalise everyone around her, unaware that she's harming herself even more so. This is a film that has, without a doubt, a sense of realism. Even, at times, uncomfortable so but that's credit to writer/director Lonergan and an exceptionally good cast. Everyone, no matter how small a role, really bring something to the table here but ultimately the film rests in the hands of Paquin. I've never been entirely convinced by her before but she delivers a heartfelt and desperate performance here. Her precociousness, coldness and occasional fits of emotional rage are highly destructive. This is essentially a right-of-passage tale but it can sometimes be a harrowing one, in what seems like a complete meltdown from the protagonist. Her motivations are never entirely clear and Lonergan refuses to spoon-feed us the answers either. This could be viewed as an exploration of teenage angst and the awkward progression to adulthood or even youthful idealism in the face of a very complex adult world. It could even be a commentary on the loneliness and need for belonging in a dense and detached society. There are regular slow and protracted shots of New York as a vast and vibrant city but also full of emptiness and lonely disengaged people - Lisa embodying this very detachment. Almost (if not) all of the characters in this film have difficulty connecting with people in one way or another. Everyone seems to be searching to belong somewhere. That being said, the protraction causes the film to meander towards it's conclusion and leaves many questions unanswered. It's hard to say whether this is down to the editing issues or just the style that Lonergan intended but it's nonetheless an intriguing and thought provoking journey. It won't appeal to everyone due to it's deliberate pace and a 2 hr 30min running time certainly requires a level of commitment. At several times throughout the film, I even questioned whether it was just pure self-indulgent drivel or something of substance. After reflection, I decided on the latter. There is a depth here, even if I didn't fully understand what it was. A deep and melancholic character study that explores the themes of responsibilty, coming-of-age and an important sense of self. It can be difficult viewing due to it's length and ambiguity but it's still worthy of some attention.

• Anthony L

  
  I was looking forward to Kenneth Lonergan's long awaited follow up to You can count on me. The various problems in the production of the film are well documented so when the film was finally released it was a mixture of relief and excitement. That'll learn me. Don't… More
  I was looking forward to Kenneth Lonergan's long awaited follow up to You can count on me. The various problems in the production of the film are well documented so when the film was finally released it was a mixture of relief and excitement. That'll learn me. Don't believe the hype, You can count on me was a sleepy hit, a good film but in retrospect nothing to get over excited about, it was a slow year. Margaret is one of the most frustrating, pointless and stupid films I have ever seen. If your idea of watching a collection of vacuous and ignorant stereotypes poorly communicating with one another to a classical score (thus pretending to be an Opera) then this is the film for you! The fact that it was 2 and a half hours long only made it more torturous. It is a horrible mess, a contrived and confused half idea that didn't/doesn't work. Why did it take so long to produce/edit? Because it is hollow, shallow, without substance. It's a nothing film. An expensive mistake, a sheep in wolfs clothing, the Emperors new clothes. Absolute nonsense. ps. Provocative, offensive and annoying are three different things.

• Nate Z

  
  The behind-the-scenes story of Margaret could make for a compelling feature all its own. It began filming in 2005. Writer/director Kenneth Lonergan had spent two years on the script. It was the follow-up to his Oscar-nominated 2000 film, You Can Count on Me. The only requirement was… More
  The behind-the-scenes story of Margaret could make for a compelling feature all its own. It began filming in 2005. Writer/director Kenneth Lonergan had spent two years on the script. It was the follow-up to his Oscar-nominated 2000 film, You Can Count on Me. The only requirement was that Lonergan turn in a cut of the movie that was under 150 minutes. His first cut was three hours. The producers paid their own editor to chop the film down to two hours. Then came the flurry of lawsuits and countersuits between the producers and Lonergan. No less a cinematic statesman than Martin Scorsese was asked to take a look at the movie and edit it down to 150 minutes (Lonergan labored on the script for Gangs of New York). Several protracted years later, Fox Searchlight dumped the 150-minute Scorsese cut in a handful of theaters. Then a funny thing happened. The rare critics who got a chance to see Margaret flipped for it. Lonergan's initial three-hour cut is now available on Blu-ray. It's a happier ending than any of the participants might have imagined only a couple years ago. I've been eager to see Margaret for myself, to see if all these arty critics were being a bit overzealous in their praise. Days later, I can't get it out of my head and I'm sure others would suffer the same wonderful affliction. Lisa Cohen (Anna Paquin) is a privileged New York City teenager who usually gets what she wants. She's on the hunt for a cowboy hat when she spots a bus driver (Mark Ruffalo) with one. She runs alongside the bus, trying to ask him about the hat. It's just enough to distract the driver. He runs a red light and plows into a pedestrian, Monica Patterson (Allison Janney). As a crowd forms and help is called for, Lisa holds the broken woman during her final, hellish moments. Afterwards, she lies to the police to protect the driver. The guilt eats away at her. She lashes out, she hurts others, she butts heads with her stage actress mother (J. Smith-Cameron), and she's looking for anything to cope. Eventually Lisa decides to come clean and seek justice but it just might be too late. Margaret is a messy, imperfect film, over-indulgent and cluttered, but man does it stick with you. It sits in your stomach. You can't shake it. You just keep thinking back on it. And after a while, the flaws itself start to transform into virtues themselves. The film is messy and all over the place but my God does it excel at recreating, in startling spasms of uncontrollable emotion, the life of an American teenager. There is no off switch when it comes to emotions, and when you're young everything seems like the end of the world. Like Lisa, you alternate between self-involvement and idealism, and you haven't hardened to the way the world works just yet. The movie, thematically, latches onto the same wavelength as its heroine. Lisa is a flawed creature, deeply hurting and trying to come to terms with her own responsibility and guilt for the accident. It just so happens that she makes mistakes trying to deal with that pain, and innocent people get hurt, and people we once thought were noble reveal their own impulses and vulnerabilities. Whether she's sympathetic as a protagonist doesn't matter, though even when she hurt others I never found her less than fascinating. She feels everything so intensely, and those intense feelings bleed into other areas of her life. She can be woefully self-involved and callous at times, but she can also be self-possessed and fearless in a moral quagmire. At one point, a character argues that teenagers would govern better than adults because teens are still idealistic and proactive, even if their actions are dismissed as naive. Lisa wants to find justice in the world somehow, so she can make sense of this random tragedy. She still clings to the belief, even as the film becomes a messy legal battle (one of its many genres Lonergan dabbled in). There are plenty of storylines and themes and messages that Lonergan wishes to weave into a seamless patchwork version of our intolerable, detached, self-involved culture. The film is something of a time capsule, way back in 2005, and the post-9/11 anxieties and civil insecurity is also dealt with in interesting ways. Lisa's social studies class repeatedly descends into shouting matches, debates that reduce the opposition in the simplest terms. After a while, all we're doing is trying to out-shout the other and no one is listening anymore. Lisa comments that our culture feels so disconnected and that people have stopped relating to one another. Of course his also extends to her as well, as she confuses her feelings and those around her. The mother-daughter dynamics are a fascinating character insight and one of the better onscreen relationships I've seen in years. You can clearly see where Lisa gets some of her showboat tendencies. Both mother and daughter have stopped being able to relate to one another, and Lisa, can wield sarcasm like a weapon, as teenagers are wont to do to their parents. Mom is dating a man she doesn't particularly connect with, and yet she enjoys the company and the desire to be wanted. Is that enough to fulfill her gnawing sense of loneliness? Lisa's father is the type to run from conflict, and yet the man is just as self-absorbed and hurtful as anyone else in the film. Except he's an adult and, theoretically, should know better. In that regard, the movie reminds me of the excellent Little Children; this is a movie of mitigated personal responsibility from people of all ages. If this is the way the world works, then why not give teenagers a chance? The opera is a reoccurring motif for the film, and it's a strong artistic association for the film because Lonergan sort of gives his characters arias with which to work. The emotions are sent to overdrive, the arguments are full-blast, and the dialogue lands in that articulate, hyper-verbal territory but isn't self-consciously snappy. It's had to quantify but it's dialogue that's painful and revealing and, while beautifully crafted, can come across as genuine. The entire movie is the same way. This is a drama where, in Spin Tap terms, the emotions go to eleven. It's a big bleeding heart of a movie, but it's not corny or maudlin or mawkish or TV movie sentimental. It's fearlessly emotional and takes you on a journey with many stops. You'll likely be horrified, thrilled, precarious, elated, angry, saddened, and frustrated. It may be best described as a series of potent, powerful scenes rather than a traditional screenplay with a clear through line. The most memorable scene also happens to be the one that sets everything in motion - the accident. It is horrific and awful in ways that movies rarely deal with. The first image we see is a leg pinned under the bus. Oh no, we think. But then the camera continues to pan down and we see... the rest of her in a heap. Oh no, we say to ourselves again, even more aghast. We're there for the harsh reality, the sad realization of Monica that she's going to die ("Are my eyes open? I can't see..."), and the shock and confusion of the situation. There's blood shooting everywhere, no sign of help, and the woman is fading away, confusing Lisa with her deceased daughter of the same name. Lonergan makes us stay in this traumatic scene for a long time, an uncomfortable amount of time, enough that the horrible incident is burned into our memory as well, and when Lisa crusades for justice or looks for some physical or emotional escape from the trauma, we know why. It's one of those one-scene marvels, a byproduct of near-perfection on every technical level. This is pre-True Blood Paquin and boy does she deliver when it comes to the dramatic feats of her character. She's convincing as a coy, too smart for her own good teenager, she's devastating as a lost, dour soul lashing out at the world, looking for anything to ease the pain, and even when she stumbles, she's fascinating. Paquin goes through a variety of moods to suit the variety of tones and storylines for the film, and her performance never falters. I'm amazed at how fast she can spit out the verbiage, while crying her eyes out, and all without gasping for breath. She's nothing short of amazing. The rest of the movie is filled with recognizable actors in small parts, from Matt Damon (The Adjustment Bureau) as a nice guy math teacher with his own weakness, Matthew Broderick (Election) as a pompous English teacher, Jean Reno (Couples Retreat) as the off kilter suitor to Lisa's mother, Kieran Culkin (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) as the bad boy druggie who deflowers Lisa, John Gallagher Jr. (TV's The Newsroom) as the nice guy with the unrequited crush on Lisa, Rosemarie Dewitt (The Watch) as the bus driver's wife, Lonergan himself as Lisa's neglectful father, and the triumphant return to screen of Jeannie Berlin (The Heartbreak Kid) who hasn't appeared in a movie since 1990. Berlin specially has the juiciest part as Monica's closest friend and eventual confidant for Lisa. She takes on Lisa's mission for justice, but she's still wary of Lisa and her hyperbolic nature. She accuses Lisa of making up a garish detail (the Lisa name confusion in Monica's last moments): "This isn't an opera! And we are not all supporting characters to the drama of your amazing life!" The title of the film comes from a poem called "Spring and Fall" by Gerard Manley Hopkins addressed to a grieving subject named Margret: "Ah! as the heart grows older/ it will come to such sights colder/... /It is the blight man was born for/ It is Margaret you mourn for." When you come down to it, Lonergan's film is about the awareness of mortality, the shock of death, the realization of the end, and our pitiful attempts to turns off the feelings more fully felt. Adults, Lonergan argues, have become hardened to the world to the frailty of life, and you question if that hardening, a natural process, is a good thing. Perhaps the dubious claim that teenagers should take a chance running the world is not without some sliver of merit. Margaret is a movie that's hard to pin down; there's so much going on, not all of it fully realized or satisfying I freely confess, but it's a thrill to witness an artistic vision that's bursting with things to say, so many things that life cannot contain them all. The 150-minute running time will be a stumbling block for some, bu honestly I never felt the film drag like I do most Hollywood action thrillers of that length. When you step away, and take the film's messiness into context, then Margaret stops being an ambitious but erratic artistic miscue and starts coalescing into something bolder, richer, and thought provoking. It took a long strange journey to get here, but Margaret is a movie that deserves to be savored and debated. Nate's Grade: A-

• Jonathan H

  
  Never has a troubled film project's off-screen drama played out so clearly in the release product as it does in Kenneth Lonergan's long-delayed sophomore effort, Margaret. Reports say that Lonergan struggled to find his film in the editing room, and the version seeing the… More
  Never has a troubled film project's off-screen drama played out so clearly in the release product as it does in Kenneth Lonergan's long-delayed sophomore effort, Margaret. Reports say that Lonergan struggled to find his film in the editing room, and the version seeing the light of day, clocking in at 149 minutes and bearing a 2008 copyright, indeed plays very much like a work-in-progress whose individual pieces have yet to be focused and formed into a cohesive whole -- which is all the more frustrating when so many of those parts could have been good in isolation. The one unifying element that does come through is Anna Paquin's annoying, overreaching, go-for-broke performance as Lisa, a spoiled, bratty New York high schooler whose life and world views upended when she partially causes a fatal bus accident. If that sounds like a typical set-up, Lonergan's follow-through is far from it, for instead of going through typical paces of Lisa softening and wising up, she acts and lashes out even more violently, stubbornly, selfishly than ever before. This doesn't make for too likable, if at all, a lead character, and while I assume we're supposed to be fascinated by her, I certainly wasn't. I just wanted her to shut her mouth by film's ends. To be fair, Paquin rather bravely doesn't soften Lisa's rough edges at all while still conveying a sense of the psychological pain and confusion--not only due to the accident but of simple immature adolescence -- that informs her every word and action. If only Lonergan were wise to zero in on Lisa in the editing room, however, for he rather ambitiously and wrongheadedly uses her situation as a springboard to other subplots and peripheral characters whose barely-there payoffs ultimately prove to not be worth the time and effort spent (such as Lisa's stage actress mother's new romance) or, even worse, are simply suddenly, completely abandoned before ever getting a chance to even reach a dead end. This is all the more frustrating when, perhaps owing to his playwright roots, Lonergan crafts a few isolated scenes whose crackling dialogue organically build to memorably charged (whether dramatically or comedically, sometimes both) climaxes, but often said scenes, as good as they are on their own, exist in a vacuum divorced from the bigger picture (case in a point, a highly amusing but completely tangential classroom debate between a student and a teacher). And the cast--in addition to Paquin, J. Smith-Cameron (as the mom), Mark Ruffalo, Kieran Culkin, Matthew Broderick (as said teacher) and a very young looking Matt Damon -- all bring their A-game to a script that reads well from line to line and scene by scene but hardly hangs together as a whole. It's a classic case of a film trying to tackle so much that it ends up effectively tackling nothing at all -- and the abstract title pretty much sums up how pretentious and ultimately unfocused this film is.

• Reid V

  
  After countless years of lawsuits & recuts, Kenneth Lonergan's Margaret finally sees the light of day. Even in it's truncated form, Lonergan tackles a particularly complicated coming of age story. When 17 year old Lisa innocently steals the attention of a Manhattan bus… More
  After countless years of lawsuits & recuts, Kenneth Lonergan's Margaret finally sees the light of day. Even in it's truncated form, Lonergan tackles a particularly complicated coming of age story. When 17 year old Lisa innocently steals the attention of a Manhattan bus driver, she unintentionally causes an accident that drastically alters the course of her life. To put it lightly, the mouthy naive high school student gets a crash course in the fragility of existence. (While that incredibly uncouth pun may have seemed unintentional, it sadly wasn't.) Lisa doesn't have anybody to turn to. Her mother, a successful local theater actor, seems more comfortable with her on stage persona than in her own skin. With nowhere to look for guidance, Lisa turns to drugs, promiscuity, and eventually retribution for her penance. This path is fraught with bumps and less than satisfactory ends. Yet, Lisa trudges on. Lonergan juxtaposes Lisa's personal struggles with her time in her elite private school, pontificating with her fellow classmates about war & analyzing Shakespearean tragedies. Lisa's first encounter with overwhelming tragedy is filtered through this abundance of over-educated jargon and the general self-aggrandizement that is a consequence of youth and from having a mother whose career is dramatics. As it states in the Gerard Manley Hopkins poem that the film is named after: "As the heart grows older, It will come to such sights colder." Lonergan beautifully shows Lisa coming to grips with tragedy at such a young age and the jaded nature of adults who have experienced more than their fair share of sadness in their lifetimes. Luckily Anna Paquin, whom I am still having a hard time forgiving for the True Blood series, is actually very good here. I wish she would spend more time in these types of roles and less time grinding her pelvis against night walkers. As always, Ruffalo and Damon are superb even though they both have minor roles. Unfortunately, some of the supporting cast is terrible. There is one seen in particular where a student is fighting to get out a few sentences that is especially painful. Yet, for the most part the performances are what make the film. Margaret is a sprawling piece of purposeful imperfection. Detailing the ordinary amid the extraordinary. At it's best it skims the surface of what it means to be a young American post-9/11. All the uncertain emotions and moral ambiguity that accompanies tragedy and how various personalities respond to such events. It is ambitious, unique, flawed, and well worth your time.

• Lorenzo v

  
  <i>"Because... this isn't an opera! And we are not all supporting characters to the drama of your amazing life!"</i> A young woman witnesses a bus accident, and is caught up in the aftermath, where the question of whether or not it was intentional affects… More
  <i>"Because... this isn't an opera! And we are not all supporting characters to the drama of your amazing life!"</i> A young woman witnesses a bus accident, and is caught up in the aftermath, where the question of whether or not it was intentional affects many people's lives. <center><font size=+2 face="Century Schoolbook"><b><u>REVIEW</u></b></font></center> The story of Margaret's production is likely a fascinating story in itself, not least because of Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker's input into the final edit, which was presumably a return favour for Lonergan's work on the screenplay for Gangs of New York. But I'll focus on the fascinating story that Lonergan has told with this film. Ostensibly the tale centres on a New York schoolgirl named Lisa (Anna Paquin, defining her young adulthood just as she defined herself in childhood with The Piano), who inadvertently causes a fatal road accident. What follows is the emotional aftermath, fought outwardly with her mother, as a moral and ethical war wages within her hormone-ravaged body. The performances are excellent throughout, particularly Paquin and J. Smith-Cameron as the daughter and mother caught in gravitational flux. Jean Reno gives fine support as the sad-sack Ramon, while Matthew Broderick delivers the poem (by Gerard Manley Hopkins) that provides the film's title, while suggesting the entire life of his character by the way he eats a sandwich. It's that kind of film. Margaret delivers something pleasingly unexpected: a kind of Sartrean modern fable about the isolating nature of subjectivity. Like her actor mother on the stage, and like us all in our semi-waking lives, Lisa is the main player in her great opera. She performs the social functions that enable her to cling to a sense of belongingness, but something gnaws at her soul. And when, after the accident, she seeks some kind of meaning, she is met at once by indifference, before being seduced by those very institutions that make indifference normal. Nothing in the material world satisfies Lisa; nothing can match her aspirations. The suggestion here, I feel, is that our despair emerges from the disparity between that which we hope for and that which reality can deliver.

• Matt G

  
  Anna Paquin is an extraordinary actress.

• Wildaly M

  
  I came out with very mixed feelings about whether I liked the ending or not, but either way it's the journey that counts I concluded. That being said, the journey is so good, you don't even notice that this film lasts 2 hrs and a half. Worth watching.

• William D

  
  More than 10 years after his profoundly moving and artistic directorial debut "You Can Count on Me," writer/director Kenneth Lonergan brings us "Margaret," a highly ambitious but seriously flawed film starring Anna Paquin as a Manhattan teenager struggling to find… More
  More than 10 years after his profoundly moving and artistic directorial debut "You Can Count on Me," writer/director Kenneth Lonergan brings us "Margaret," a highly ambitious but seriously flawed film starring Anna Paquin as a Manhattan teenager struggling to find her way in the world. The film starts out very well. One hour in, I thought that Lonergan had created yet another near-masterpiece. But at the end of the second hour (the film is an overly long two-and-a-half hours), I felt "Margaret" was a film that had come off the rails and become a chaotic mess. I am also not a fan of casting twentysomethings to play teenage characters. I feel it's an insult to teenage characters. Paquin never for a second seemed like a teenager to me. She seemed like a college student, an older one at that. This was a major flaw in my eyes. But there are so many things about this film that are amazing. And even the chaos had certain interesting things about it. The film is recommended for serious cinephiles who appreciate lofty artistic ambitions even when those ambitions aren't completely met. --unfinished--

• Mark A

  
  Anna Paquin plays Lisa Cohen a seventeen year old high schooler who is shaken to the core when she witnesses a horrible accident that takes a woman's life and for which she feels largely responsible. The supporting cast contains several well-known stars and more than a few… More
  Anna Paquin plays Lisa Cohen a seventeen year old high schooler who is shaken to the core when she witnesses a horrible accident that takes a woman's life and for which she feels largely responsible. The supporting cast contains several well-known stars and more than a few recognizable character actors, but this is Ms Paquin's film. Having heard some criticism for casting a 30 year old to play a teenager, I approached this with some trepidation, but was quickly drawn into Lisa's world. Her mother (J. Smith-Cameron) is an actor who is too distracted to notice that her daughter is falling apart under the guilt and stress and her absentee father is not even aware of the incident, and is too distracted by his other life to pick up any clues over the phone, their only point of contact. The emotions are raw and the journey that finally brings Lisa some measure of restoration is arduous, but greatly rewarding. The two and a half hours for the tale to unfold did not seem near that long.

• The Movie W

  
  If Damon and Paquin appear surprisingly fresh-faced it's because Lonergan's follow-up to his excellent 2000 debut "You Can Count On Me" was actually shot in 2005. To say it's post-production was troubled is an understatement. The studio insisted on a cut under… More
  If Damon and Paquin appear surprisingly fresh-faced it's because Lonergan's follow-up to his excellent 2000 debut "You Can Count On Me" was actually shot in 2005. To say it's post-production was troubled is an understatement. The studio insisted on a cut under 150 minutes which the writer-director struggled to deliver. Eventually, with assistance from Martin Scorsese and his editor Thelma Schoonmaker, a cut was presented trimmed down to an exact 150 minutes. By this point however the studio had given up on the movie and it received a miniscule theatrical release before it's eventual DVD release this month. The process took so long that in the seven years since, two of it's producers, Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack, have passed away. The most significant death as far as the film's theme is concerned is that of Osama Bin Laden as Lonergan's film is a thinly veiled metaphor for the war on terror.Paquin plays the over-privileged and over-indulged daughter of a New York stage actress from whom she inherits a heightened and dangerous flair for the dramatic. If the film seems at times as overblown as a DePalma set-piece it's because this is how Paquin sees the world, a place for her to take center stage and cast those around her in a melodrama of her making. Just as Bin Laden became the target of a grieving nation's anger, Ruffalo's bus driver is persecuted by Paquin who is determined to take out her rage on him. At first she is torn by the fact he has a family to care for but this changes when she tracks down the best friend of the victim, the equally solipsistic Berlin, a tightly wound coil of anger. The two hook up like Bush and Blair and set off on their crusade to find the metaphorical WMD's that will make a case against Ruffalo. Had this met it's original release schedule I doubt Paquin would now be wasting away in a TV show. This is another great performance by a young actress in a year that's seen stellar work from Elizabeth Olsen, Emily Browning and Jennifer Lawrence. Not since "There Will Be Blood" has a lead character been so despicable yet engaging enough to keep you captivated for such a long running time. The supporting ensemble is uniformly brilliant although some, Damon in particular, suffer from the harsh editing. Like "The Tree of Life", it's clear there's a longer cut out there, a truer expression of it's creator's intent. Scenes are set up which fail to materialise while others are referred to which we haven't witnessed. As with Malick's film I like to think it succeeds precisely because of this ambiguity. The film's melodramatic climax benefits wholly from this uncertainty, leaving us confused as to the authenticity of Paquin's emotional catharsis. This abstruseness will no doubt turn off the majority of viewers. The rest of us will be entirely grateful that we can experience this near masterpiece in some shape.

• Walter M

  
  Currently, Lisa(Anna Paquin) has other things on her mind that go beyond being accused of cheating on a math test like the attention of Darren(Josh Gallagher Jr.) who sorta, maybe asks her out. In the meantime, she needs a cowboy hat for a future ranch trip with her father but cannot… More
  Currently, Lisa(Anna Paquin) has other things on her mind that go beyond being accused of cheating on a math test like the attention of Darren(Josh Gallagher Jr.) who sorta, maybe asks her out. In the meantime, she needs a cowboy hat for a future ranch trip with her father but cannot find any on the Upper West Side until she sees one being worn by a bus driver(Mark Ruffalo). Tragically, she distracts him enough that he runs a red light, running over a pedestrian(Allison Janney) who dies in Lisa's arms. Lisa's mother, Joan(J. Smith-Camerson), would stay home to look after her but Lisa tells her that she is okay, leaving Joan to meet a handsome stranger(Jean Reno) after her performance on stage is over. On the one hand, "Margaret" is long and not without its share of flaws such as being indifferently edited at times(somebody sure likes his panaromic shots). And of the 8 or 9 possible endings, I'm not sure I agreed with the final decision. On the other hand, it is a smart and compelling look at a formerly spoiled young woman who comes of age by thinking beyond herself for the first time in her life by getting involved in a cause, even as she does some harm in the bargain. At the same time, the movie operates counterintuitively in being emphatic, not strident(to rephrase a semantic debate from the movie), in showing there to be more than one viewpoint in every story, although to be honest I have used stronger words than "corrupt" to describe Presidents. And by invoking "King Lear," with its sisters tearing apart their father's kingdom, the movie could be said to be denigrating teenaged girls in general(who the "Twilight" franchise notwithstanding, I usually have no argument with), for the carelessness of their actions.(My what language!). But it is not really their fault, as Lisa's behavior and those of her generation might be explained by the lack of any decent adult supervision or leadership but then this is 2006(the fare is $2.00 and you-know-who is still President), not 1995, so there is not as much to worry about.

• Sol C

  
  Anna Paquin's performance is the best reason to see this film. She is amazing in it. She should have gotten an Oscar nomination for it. The film is so so. It needed a rewrite. The film could have been 30 or 45 minutes shorter. The pacing is off. Some scenes in the film feel not… More
  Anna Paquin's performance is the best reason to see this film. She is amazing in it. She should have gotten an Oscar nomination for it. The film is so so. It needed a rewrite. The film could have been 30 or 45 minutes shorter. The pacing is off. Some scenes in the film feel not necessary. Also some of the actors feel miscast. I felt like I have seen Mark Ruffalo play this role before in Reservation Road. I thought he was better in that film than this one. Matt Damon seems miscast as Paquin's teacher. Matthew Broderick is good here. I thought Kenneth Lonergan did a better directing job with You Can Count On Me, than this film.

• Cameron J

  
  "Dear Margaret, I beg of you; dear Margaret, gonna tell on you!" Hey, you can say what you will about The Kinks, and I won't blame you, because I'm not especially crazy about them either, but that quote kind of fits when it comes to a discussion of this film, not… More
  "Dear Margaret, I beg of you; dear Margaret, gonna tell on you!" Hey, you can say what you will about The Kinks, and I won't blame you, because I'm not especially crazy about them either, but that quote kind of fits when it comes to a discussion of this film, not just because it does, in fact, feature "Margaret" in the title and is, like this film, about a modernist girl with a secret... I guess, but because the album "UK Jive" was also a critical disappoinment that no one really checked out, much like this film. Hey, I don't know about y'all, but I like this film, as well I should, because, for whatever reason, it's two-and-a-half hours, with a three-hour cut that pretty much no one has seen, except for me (Much like Dennis DeYoung, I've got too much time on my hands, and I'm not just saying that because, at this point, DeYoung really must have too much time on his hands), and on top of all that, I'd imagine the makers of this film particularly want good critical reception. Nevermind the fact that this film is a bit overambitious, we're talking about a $14 million project that was bombarded with so many lawsuits that it had to be shelved for years, only to finally come out and barely make not even 47,000, by film finances standards, not-so big boys. You know, I would probably feel a bit more sorry for this film if it wasn't co-produced by the late Sydney Pollack, or with a cast that includes Anna Paquin, Matt Damon, Mark Ruffalo, Kieran Culkin, Olivia Thirlby, Roesmarie DeWitt, Jean Reno, Matthew Broderick and Allison "Still Alive" Janney. ...So yeah, did I forget to mention that this film is a bit too overambitious? Hey, I can't say I blame this film for getting its hopes a bit too high up, because this story concept is commendable, and it sure does make for a decent film, though one that's hardly as strong as it probably should be, going held back by more than just overambition. The film has quite a bit that is commendable about it, but at the same time, it has about as many issues as it does strengths, and almost all of them come back down to this film's core issue: awkwardness, something that even taints the writing punch-up departments, which much too often take on a realism that's rather bland, if not awkward (Seriously, what's up with the naturalist line hiccups?), especially when Kenneth Lonergan, as writer, practices exaggerated realism that keeps broad ideas relatively grounded, only to end up going a bit overboard when it comes to the details (I know just about every passably sensible high school teacher in America knows that most of their students curse like sailors, maybe even drink, smoke and do drugs, but I doubt they're as lenient as the teachers in this film), particularly in characterization, which leaves certain characters - especially the teenaged ones who end up being fairly significant, and overly prime examples of most everything I detest about teenagers - to come off as too thin to be compelling without the driving force of the performances behind them. Not even the film's dialogue and other forms of punch-up can escape hiccups, backed by overambitin and the wrong kind of originality, yet Lonergan's missteps hardly end there, because as storyteller, Lonergan can't even gain all that firm of a grip on pacing, which is generally about as spirited as a film this sprawling and aimless can be, but all too often finds time to slip into slowness that blands things up, if not dull things down. The directorial flow of plotting within this film's storytelling gets to be inconsistent, and it's not like the story structure within Lonergan's script is all that stable in its focus either, taking on plenty of subplots and filler that, before too long, fail to gel and get messy something fierce as plot components (Whatever happened to the subplot dealing with J. Smith-Cameron's relationship with Jean Reno?), as well as thematic depths that are hardly as coherent as they should be. Whether it be intentional or whatever, this film is all over the place as a slice-of-life drama that tackles more layers than it can handle, thus leaving focal unevenenss to reinforce awkward overambition about as much as it reinforces the outrageous bloating that deals the most damage to this mess of a film. At two-and-a-half hours, or, in the case of the extended director's cut, [b]three doggone hours[/b], this minimalist slice-of-life drama is much too long, but only on paper, because when you see the final product, it's not so much much too long, but much too [u]"blasted"[/u] long, because, make no mistake, this film's sprawling length is anything but organic, being achieved through a narrative that is heavily driven by rather forced filler that defines this film's plot as repetitious, thin and all around aimless. This film has too many aspirations, and that would be more forgivable if this film's aspirations weren't so questionable, as this film seems to be active in either stylishly melodramatizing realism, or overemphasizing realism to the point of making story structure every bit as aimless as a slice of life itself, and with issues such as these being made all the worse by exhausting bloating and unevenness, the final product comes off as messy in a fashion that is very difficult to fully describe (It's not quite a big hunk of avant-garde Cannes Film Festival tedium, but it's still pretty messy), and brings underwhelmingness to this execution of a promising story concept that really could have hit high dramatic marks. That being said, as sloppy as this film very much is, it's not without its strengths, and plenty of them, to where mediocrity is battled back by decency that goes reinforced by commendable moments of inspired ambition fulfillment, and, yes, even complimented by some nice music. A bit repetitious and rather unfitting in a few places, perhaps on purpose, Nico Muhly's score work is misused almost as much as it is underused, but rest assured that the points in which the original and unoriginal musical touches come into play are well worth waiting for, because if they're not with a kind of spirited liveliness that colors up this film's entertainment value, they're with a very classical grace and soul that is simply beautiful to listen to, and supplementary to the film's most effective moments. We're talking about an often bland, two-and-a-half-to-three-hour realist drama here, so the classically theatrical method of augmenting atmospheric kick with musicality is not explored all that terribly often, but it is celebrated just enough for it to be decided that this film owes a fair bit of its effectiveness and entertainment value to its classical soundtrack, both original and unorginal, which breathes a fair bit of soul into the substance that I really do wish could have been more well-handled, largely because it is conceptually worthwhile. Okay, now, if I can give this film's problematic stylistic storytelling touches credit for anything, they're certainly unique, maybe not in the right way (Yeah, I think there might be a reason why no one does some of the things that this film does), but nevertheless to the point of, at least for a moment, obscuring the fact that this film's subject matter really isn't all that original, though not to where I would say that I prefer having questionable storytelling aspects over an inspired, more traditionalist execution of this not-so refreshing story concept, because when it's all said and done, there's still plenty of value within the story concepts behind this slice-of-life drama, which is all over the place in the long run, but just focused enough for you to gain a fair degree of awareness of what could have been, and find yourself with immediate intrigue that is built upon by undeniable strengths within direction. Sure, as director, Kenneth Lonergan can do only so much to work through the written story structuring problems that he himself created as writer, and doesn't exactly help with his tossing in such awkwardly superfluous stylistic choices as an active insertion of excess filler to reinforce overbearing realism (May I be struck down if there isn't a point in this film in which someone comments on the view of the city, then leaves us the camera to spend exactly thirty seconds panning along the view in question), or a considerable overemphasis on environment happenings - particularly side conversations - whose purpose is just too darn indiscernible to be anything more than offputting, but at the end of the day, Lonergan does deliver at times, keeping atmosphere generally just lively enough to keep you from becoming to disengaged, and sometimes firmly reminding you of this story's dramatic possibilities by all too briefly fulfilling his dramatic ambitions. From the disturbingly effective bus accident scene that rounds out the development segment, to moments in which momentum slows down just enough for atmospheric weight to gain a firm, as well as certain other points in between (Oh, this film's ending is, well, a bit of a cop-out, but still pretty moving) but soulfully restrained grip on effectively resonant meditative moments, high points within Lonergan's dramatic storytelling can indeed be found as moments of refreshment for your investment, which never slips too far down, partially because the film's lowest points of compellingness are padded by plenty of worthwhile performances. Sure, certain characters are too messily handled to be all that likable on paper, where they're not saved by strong portrayals, with teenaged characters being, of course, particularly obnoxious (There is a point where some girl says that teenagers should rule the world because they're idealistic and uncorrupt, and I stopped just short of screaming until my larynx collapsed), especially when some of them find themselves not particularly well-portrayed (Hina Abdullah, girl, some bouncing around you overacting nuisance), but on the whole, most every member of this character roster is compelling in the long run because they're quite well-portrayed, whether by such supporting players as the exceedingly charming and unevenly used Jean Reno and Kieran Culkin, and subtly compelling Jeannie "The Other Susan Sarandon" Berlin and Mark Ruffalo, or by such leads as Lonergan's real-life wife, the impassioned and convincingly layered J. Smith-Cameron, and our leading lady Anna Paquin, whose Lisa Cohen character, our lead, is hardly all that likable on paper, - what with her being a stereotypical teenaged dramatist who is self-obsessed and irrational - but compelling nonetheless, thanks to Paquin's humanly assured presence and moving emotional range. Not even the our lead, in concept, is as compelling as Paquin's performance, so of course the rest of the film doesn't stand a chance of being as strong as it should be, and yet, with that said, there are things done right in this film, and enough of them for the final product to carry on as enjoyable and sometimes quite engaging, no matter how much it wants to be and should be more. At the end of the aimless day it takes to watch this, awkwardly over-realist, if not somewhat extreme dialogue and characterization distances resonance a bit, though not quite as much as uneven pacing and focus, brought on partially by the film's being just so excessively bloated by messy filler and layers that make the final product aimlessly underwhelming, though not entirely worthy of dismissal, as there is enough soul to the soundtrack, value to the story concept, - often complimented by high points in storytelling - and inspiration to acting - particularly that of J. Smith-Cameron and Anna Paquin - to make Kenneth Lonergan's "Margaret" an adequately engaging, sprawling slice-of-life drama, regardless of its wealth of shortcomings. 2.5/5 - Fair

• John B

  
  Margaret slipped in and out of theatres rather quickly but it deserves a look not that it is on DVD and movie channels. Anna Pacquin, Matt Damon and Mark Ruffalo star with minor turns by Matthew Broderick and Jean Reno and the results are great. Pacquin is thoroughly engaging as the… More
  Margaret slipped in and out of theatres rather quickly but it deserves a look not that it is on DVD and movie channels. Anna Pacquin, Matt Damon and Mark Ruffalo star with minor turns by Matthew Broderick and Jean Reno and the results are great. Pacquin is thoroughly engaging as the self centred teen reacting to tragedy as only an irrational teen could.

• Jeffrey M

  
  Uniquely conceived and executed, Margaret is one of the most interesting films to come out in quite some time. That it was originally scheduled for a 2007 release date, but only found a theatrical release this past year, makes it that much more interesting. It follows a teenager,… More
  Uniquely conceived and executed, Margaret is one of the most interesting films to come out in quite some time. That it was originally scheduled for a 2007 release date, but only found a theatrical release this past year, makes it that much more interesting. It follows a teenager, Margaret, who witnesses a fatal traffic accident, but one in which moral ambiguity seems to carry the day. What is certainly the most notable thing about the film is Anna Paquin's portrayal of Margaret. It's brilliant, passionate, and authentic, albeit not always easy to watch. This is a testament to the realism Paquin brought to the table, playing a character that most would find interesting, but also often strident, with a flair for hyperbole and melodrama that most actresses could only hope to imitate, but Paquin successfully embodied. The other stand out thing about the film is simply how naturalistic it is. Director Kenneth Lonergan was able to capture emotions in an uncanny manner. This is how people feel, and this is how people react, even when such interactions are difficult to sit through, because it is so realistic (capturing the harsh dynamics of New Yorkers). So while the story is simple, it's rich in how detailed and down to earth it seems. For what it does well, Margaret does seem to have a script and scope that is a bit too ambitious, with many characters. Not every character is quite given their due, despite a long running time, and some story-lines are never paid off or given any real attention. The main through-line, however, is done quite well, and largely anchors the film. A must watch for any enthusiastic of independent film making. 4/5 Stars

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