Margaret

MPAA Rating: for strong language, sexuality, some drug use and disturbing images.

Moral Rating:

_____

Add to your list?
View your list

E-mail this page to a friend

Moviemaking Quality:

Primary Audience:

Adults

Genre:

Drama

Length:

2 hr. 29 min.

Year of Release:

2011

USA Release:

September 30, 2011

Relevant Issues

traffic accident

youthful ideals

realities and compromises of the adult world

FORGIVEN?—How can I be and feel forgiven? Answer

GUILT—If God forgives me every time I ask, why do I still feel so guilty? Answer

forgiveness of sin

“from the director of ‘You Can Count on Me’”

Producer’s synopsis: “A young woman (Paquin) 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.

Margaret centers on a 17-year-old New York City high-school student who feels certain that she inadvertently played a role in a traffic accident that has claimed a woman’s life. In her attempts to set things right she meets with opposition at every step. Torn apart with frustration, she begins emotionally brutalizing her family, her friends, her teachers, and most of all, herself. She has been confronted quite unexpectedly with a basic truth: that her youthful ideals are on a collision course against the realities and compromises of the adult world.”

“…A grief study that wasn’t worth the wait… ‘Margaret’ is discordant, sprawling (two and a half hours) and disastrously ambitious.…”
—Liam Lacey, The Globe and Mail

“…far too long with sweeping shots of the city—for no particular reason. As characters engage in an intense discussion, he shifts his camera’s focus to… a boat in the harbor. Which would be fine if it meant something, if it served a narrative purpose. Instead, it’s just a boat on the water.…”
—Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic

“…complex and moving parable…”
—Peter Keough, The Boston Phoenix

“…Anna Paquin film years in the making is worth the wait… ultimately, it all works.…”
—Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News

“…Although the film runs 150 minutes, it’s too short to do justice to the filmmaker’s ambitions. …maddeningly full of promise, but not yet fully formed.…[C+]”
—Brett Michel, The Boston Herald

“…You’ll love it or hate it… an ambitious, novelistic, sprawling story that attempts to show a young woman’s internal development while simultaneously conveying the soul of modern-day New York.…”
—Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

“…Paquin is electrifying in this 2½-hour film shot in 2005 and plagued by editing-room creative differences and lawsuits ever since. Like its central character, it is unfinished, a work-in-progress.…”
—Carrie Rickey, The Philadelphia Inquirer

“…Lonergan has created a forceful yet extremely fitful film that teases with moments of brilliance only to frustrate in the end. …A pity, ‘Margaret’ was a terrible thing to waste.”
—Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times

Sorry, no other viewer comments received yet. If you have seen this movie and would like to share your observations and insights with others to be posted here, please contact us!