A friend of mine has a special contempt for what he calls "tour guide" films; movies that are so obsessed with a sense of place that they come off as a Frommer's Guide rather than a story.
That's only one problem with Margaret, featuring a big-name cast that includes Anna Paquin, Jean Reno, Matthew Broderick, Mark Ruffalo and Matt Damon. The product of such a tortured production cycle that principal photography was shot back in 2005 (hence why the True Blood star plays a high-schooler here) and it became the subject of at least two lawsuits when writer/director Kenneth Lonergan was unable to offer a final cut investors liked.
While the film features a great dramatic premise and solid cast, Chekov's Gun gets loaded and not used again in several scenes. That's semi-forgivable, but the flick also pounds audiences past the point of boredom with its New York City locations.
Kenneth Lonergan Directs Fox Searchlight's Margaret, Starring Anna Paquin & Mark Ruffalo
Lisa Cohen (Paquin) is your typical self-centered 17-year-old: interested in boys, going to parties, and generally trying to keep her Mom off her back. But then she witnesses a bus crash that takes the life of a pedestrian (Alison Janney).
Believing the accident was her fault, she tries to make things right but runs into opposition from family, friends and others connected with the case. Frustrated as only a teenager can, she lashes out at everyone around her. Can Lisa somehow find a way for her youthful ideals to co-exist with the constant compromises of adulthood?
On paper, Margaret looks like a hell of a drama - the title refers to Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem "Spring and Fall: To a Young Child," which is briefly referred to in the film. It's clear the cast was excited to make this movie, and they make the most of it.
Paquin delivers another roaring performance as an angry adolescent who finds something besides herself to be passionate about (anyone who still doubts why she won that Oscar at age 11 should look here), while Mark Ruffalo adds yet another charming bastard role to his resume. Matthew Broderick - who poneyed up some of his own money to keep the production going - delivers unexpected laughs in his brief appearance as a nebbish English teacher.
Unfortunately, Lonergan doesn't know how to pace a film: 149 minutes of adolescent angst is tough to take, especially when scenes start and finish seemingly at random. It doesn't help that plot points are raised and discarded also at random.
Some would argue that real life is like that but audiences usually demand more structure from their stories, whether on a printed page or onscreen. A scene where Lisa loses her virginity raises a possible sub-plot that's never addressed elsewhere (or is it? A later scene is so ambiguous that we're not sure).
While we're at it, don't get me started on a subplot featuring Matt Damon as a young teacher who catches Lisa's eye.
But the most grating aspect of this movie is the never-ending panorama shots that don't add anything to this movie. Lonergan clearly loves to photograph the New York skyline but non-New Yorkers won't be as enthralled. If final editors Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker had dumped the skyline shots and concentrated on the drama, this film would have been a lot stronger.
Margaret Needs a Quarter-Inch Trim.
There's a spectacular drama hidden somewhere in Margaret, but it's clear Kenneth Lonergan isn't the guy to bring it out. Overlong, filled with plot devices that go nowhere and sequences that stop and start without any reason, Margaret is simply a mess. It gets a 2/5.
Dominic von Riedemann - Dominic is the Animated Film Feature Writer, and winner of 11 Suite 101 Editors' Choice Awards.
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