A cheeky and intelligent teenager, living in a high rise flat with her stage actress mother and attending an esteemed private school with Manhattan's elite, feels guilty for the death of a woman hit by a bus she was flagging down. Having had a spiritual connections with the stranger in her dying moments and in trying to fit things in with her ideal world view, the teen sees to reversing her story to the police and seeing that the bus driver pays for his transgression, a crusade that she doesn't care who it affects. "Margaret", based on a poem entitled "Spring and Fall" by Gerlad Manley Hopkins, is ambitious, literate, and incredibly well realized filmmaking from playwright Kenneth Lonergan who wonderfully captures New York City shortly after 9/11 and captures and explores many of the attitudes in that time frame. In addition to the main storyline featuring a nicely tweaked performance from Anna Paquin, Lonergan juggles this with a different and sweet storyline featuring J. Smith-Cameron as Paquin's mom who embarks on a romance with an exceedingly charming Jean Reno. Matt Damon, Mark Ruffalo, Matthew Broderick, and Lonergan himself all have excellent and often humorous supporting roles as well. "Margaret" strives to achieve a series of lofty goals, and carries them off with style, wit, and gusto.
Entertainment Magazine
A cheeky and intelligent teenager, living in a high rise flat with her stage actress mother and attending an esteemed private school with Manhattan's elite, feels guilty for the death of a woman hit by a bus she was flagging down. Having had a spiritual connections with the stranger in her dying moments and in trying to fit things in with her ideal world view, the teen sees to reversing her story to the police and seeing that the bus driver pays for his transgression, a crusade that she doesn't care who it affects. "Margaret", based on a poem entitled "Spring and Fall" by Gerlad Manley Hopkins, is ambitious, literate, and incredibly well realized filmmaking from playwright Kenneth Lonergan who wonderfully captures New York City shortly after 9/11 and captures and explores many of the attitudes in that time frame. In addition to the main storyline featuring a nicely tweaked performance from Anna Paquin, Lonergan juggles this with a different and sweet storyline featuring J. Smith-Cameron as Paquin's mom who embarks on a romance with an exceedingly charming Jean Reno. Matt Damon, Mark Ruffalo, Matthew Broderick, and Lonergan himself all have excellent and often humorous supporting roles as well. "Margaret" strives to achieve a series of lofty goals, and carries them off with style, wit, and gusto.
