Review of Margaret (2011) by Reid V — 01 Aug 2012

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.