Though it has only been seen by an impossibly small group of people, the story of Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret is one of the most fascinating in recent years. That I was able to see it tonight—and that I’m writing about it right now—is something that no one could have foreseen just a few months ago. That it was released theatrically at all is something that no one could have foreseen a couple years ago. Normally it is best to discuss a film simply on its merits as a work of art and/or entertainment and ignore any off screen narratives, but in this case the product and the production are darn near inseparable. In fact, a large part of Margaret’s fascination is the years of editing room drama that led to its quick and quiet release, and ultimately its resurrection. The resulting film is exactly as messy as one might expect from such an unfortunate situation, but it’s also just as fascinating. Margaret has all the makings of a masterpiece, but the current cut that’s been making the rounds is not quite there yet. As it is, it’s a long, bumpy ride that moves in fits and starts, but when it’s good it is downright magnificent. Even through all the inconsistency, it’s an incredibly worthwhile journey.
The saga of this film’s production and post-production could make a movie in and of itself. Margaret was shot all the way back in 2005, and it tells the sprawling, wildly ambitious story of the 17-year-old Lisa (Anna Paquin), who lives in New York City with her mother (J. Smith-Cameron) and little brother. The film follows Lisa as she goes to school, deals with family and friends and goes through all the trivial things that a teenage girl goes through. Oh, and she witnesses a woman (Allison Janney) get violently run over by a bus; an accident that occurred because Lisa distracted the bus driver (Mark Ruffalo) and he ran a red light. She feels responsible for this, and she spends a great deal of the film wrestling with her feelings about that event and seeking a catharsis that can never be found. Margaret is a film that tries to juggle a million things at once—it’s a movie about adolescence, post-9/11 New York, parenting, justice, the American legal system, opera etiquette, etc.—and it’s fascinating to watch it try and keep it all running smoothly. This ambition alone makes the film worthwhile.
Unfortunately, this ambition got the better of Kenneth Lonergan for the better part of six years. Margaret was initially planned to be a three-hour film, but the studio told Lonergan that the final cut could be no longer than 150 minutes, or they would take it out of his hands. He then spent the second half of the decade trying to compress this massive film down to a shorter version while still keeping it satisfying, and this led to frustration and lawsuits all around. Eventually this theatrical cut was thrown together (150 minutes exactly, wouldn’t you know?) and tossed out into a select few theaters. The first wave of reviews was mixed—the general consensus was that it was an unholy mess—and the film disappeared with barely a whimper. Fox Searchlight clearly wanted to dump the film out there and have it just go away, and for a while it seemed like they would be successful.
The film’s fortunes started to change when a small group of critics saw the film, loved it, and decided to start an Internet movement to get Margaret the attention they felt it deserved. One of the movement’s key figures is Mike D’Angelo, who wrote a piece for Nashville Scene discussing the growing #TeamMargaret phenomenon, and it is likely because of this vocal group that I was able to see the movie tonight in a small room at the Wexner Center for the Arts here at Ohio State. It’s not a wide release, but at least people are hearing about it and seeing it. (The screening was also pretty darn packed, which is encouraging.) Not four months ago, Fox Searchlight left Margaret for dead on the side on the indie movie highway, and a select few cineastes have run to resuscitate it and give it the second life it so deserves.
If Margaret doesn’t get the support it needs, than it’s unlikely we’ll ever see the version that we were meant to see. The cut that I saw tonight is a complete mess, and is either 30 minutes too long or 30 minutes too short. This does not mean it is a bad movie. On the contrary, Margaret is frequently captivating, but it is far from the wall-to-wall brilliance that is likely found in the script or in Lonergan’s mind. The film’s central plot revolves around Lisa’s life post-bus accident, but the number of digressions and side plots in this film could fill an entire season of television. Supporting characters—such as teachers played by Matt Damon and Matthew Broderick and a couple romantic interests—come and go, and the film is precisely as unfocused as, well, the mind of the average American teenager. There are also long stretches of the film that focus on her mother’s new boyfriend Jean Reno, and that plot is only puzzling when it ends suddenly and in unsatisfying fashion. There is enough skill in the rest of the film to assure me that the Lonergan cut would flesh all this out, but right now it all just seems crammed into too small a package.
That’s inevitable, though. Considering the circumstances, Margaret is a pretty astonishing achievement that succeeds at most of the points when it aims the highest. I’d imagine much of the story’s meat and potatoes are on full display here, and a wonderful performance by a young Paquin keeps the entire thing afloat. Despite all the excess baggage, this is a film almost entirely about her transition from childhood to the cruel world of adulthood, which comes all too suddenly. Lisa is a typical teenager, and like all teenagers she wants nothing more than to be an adult. The problem is that she’s not an adult yet, and she doesn’t entirely understand how the grown-up world works. She thinks she knows everything, but she really knows almost nothing. Lisa desperately wants a satisfying conclusion to all the events in her life, but no such satisfaction will ever be found. She simply comes across ambiguity after ambiguity and dead end after dead end, and it just about drives her insane. The only real catharsis comes in the heartbreaking final scene, when Lisa suddenly feels the weight of all she’s done for the last 150 minutes come crashing down. Only then does she seem to realize that there can never be a traditional happy ending to her story.
This frustrating conclusion rings true on a level that some other movies that deal with post-9/11 New York City (*cough* Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close *cough*) can only dream of. Where that film’s treatment of the subject matter was insensitive and simple-minded, Margaret comes from people who truly understand that there is no band-aid large enough to heal that wound. Lisa’s journey is a microcosm of the post-9/11 experience: she goes through a traumatic experience, and looks everywhere for something to fix the pain she feels inside. But it will never go away. Margaret is very much a film about its time and place, and for some that may slightly hamper the experience. In one scene, Lisa refers to “the current President,” and it may take you a couple seconds to realize that she’s referring to George Bush. The cell phones are… old, to say the least, and when a few characters go to the movies in an early scene, the films on the marquee include Roll Bounce, Serenity and Flightplan. While it wasn’t released until 2011, this is not a 2011 film.
However, that never takes enough away from the experience to be truly distracting. Margaret is about more than simply life in 2005, and many of the ideas it deals with are still resonant and will be for a long time to come. While I don’t think the film is necessarily the cure for cancer, I was so impressed by most of what I saw that I will gladly throw my hat into the ring as a bench player for #TeamMargaret. You know, if the game ever enters garbage time and you need a guy to come in so one of the stars doesn’t get hurt. As imperfect as this cut is, it has left me with countless moments that will be engrained in my mind for a while. Also: I would give a kidney to see a Margaret director’s cut. If the film continues to gain a cult following, such a release is not out of the question.
Grade: Haha, you’re not going to get me with this one! Grades are dumb anyways, but especially so here. If you can see it, see it. Keep an eye out for local screenings near you.
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