‘Margaret’: Paquin totally in tune as messed-up teen

  • By Robert Horton Herald Movie Critic
  • Wednesday, January 25, 2012 7:10pm
  • LifeGo-See-Do

The title “Margaret” comes not from a character in this movie but from a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, a poem that suggests how all sadness has its source in one’s own awareness of death.

And death is all over this movie. But hang on: Before you stop reading, give it a chance. “Margaret” is a challenge, and not very user-friendly, but on its own terms it’s a remarkable film.

“Margaret” is written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan, who did the wonderful “You Can Count on Me” in 2000. The new movie was actually shot in 2005, but for a variety of legal and artistic reasons, has been stuck in limbo since then.

The central character is a teenager, Lisa Cohen (played by Anna Paquin), an unusually smart, bratty and difficult kid.

Her life shifts when she witnesses a fatal accident on the streets of Manhattan one afternoon. Actually she’s more than a witness; she plays a role in the chain of events that leads a bus driver (Mark Ruffalo) to distractedly run over a woman crossing the street.

The rest of the story stems from this incident: Lisa’s initial impulse to fudge the truth of what happened, and later to reveal everything. The accident looms even when Lisa is plowing through the normal obstacle course of being a teenager: the uninterrupted, ongoing battle with her mother, an actress (J. Cameron-Smith, terrific), or her curiosity about sex, or her crush on a teacher (Matt Damon).

Perhaps the bravest thing about any of this is that Lisa is nothing like the plucky heroine of a conventional coming-of-age picture. She’s a mess, and as abrasive as she is nervy. She does the wrong thing, repeatedly … and I don’t think there was a minute when she didn’t seem like an alive and heartbreakingly authentic character.

Anna Paquin, who won an Oscar when she was a kid for her role in “The Piano,” is something special, too. As an adult performer Paquin hasn’t always looked comfortable in her own skin, but here she’s electrifying. (Her absence from the Oscar nominees announced this week is a glaring omission from a pretty lousy overall list.)

Smaller roles are ably filled by Jeannie Berlin, Jean Reno, Matthew Broderick, and — briefly, but unforgettably — Allison Janney. Lonergan himself plays Lisa’s father, a voice on the telephone a continent away.

Speaking of that communication breakdown, “Margaret,” in scene after scene, etches the difficulty of making oneself understood, or of understanding someone else. Whether at a dinner table or in a lawyer’s office hunched around a speakerphone, people are constantly talking across each other instead of with each other, a state of things that is as true for the teenage Lisa as it is for the official grown-ups.

As a filmmaker, Lonergan is so observant on this subject that I found it easy enough to overlook the movie’s rough edges (he’s a superb writer, but not a born director).

But I spent most of this film’s 150-minute running time being kind of amazed at the exasperating, thorny, wise movie that was unfolding. It took six years to get it released, but it was worth it.

“Margaret”

A kind of amazing movie from writer-director Kenneth Lonergan (“You Can Count on Me”), about a Manhattan teenager (Anna Paquin, electrifying) who flounders through her life in the wake of a violent accident. The movie is full of difficult, abrasive characters and a few rough edges, but it’s extremely well-observed and sharply acted.

Rated: R for language, nudity, subject matter.

Showing: Uptown.

Talk to us

More in Life

Artist Michelle Downes prepares to work on a few canvases in her garage workspace on Thursday, July 6, 2023, at her family’s home in Stanwood, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Stanwood artist Michelle Downes creates layered dreamscapes in resin

Resin is one part chemistry and one part artistry. Downes combines the two to make art that captures the imagination.

Kotor's zigzagging town wall rewards climbers with a spectacular view. (Cameron Hewitt / Rick Steves' Europe)
Rick Steves: Just south of Dubrovnik lies unpolished Montenegro

One of Europe’s youngest nations offers dramatic scenery, locals eager to show off their unique land, and a refreshing rough-around-the-edges appeal.

Dark gray wheels and black exterior accents provide extra visual appeal for the 2024 Subaru Impreza’s RS trim. (Subaru)
2024 Subaru Impreza loses a little, gains a lot

The brand’s compact car is fully redesigned. A couple of things are gone, but many more have arrived.

TSR image for calendar
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

This weekend in Snohomish: The Snohomish Blues Invasion and the Snohomish Studio Tour 2023.

Made by Bruce Hutchison, the poster for “A Momentary Diversion on the Road to the Grave” is an homage to 1985 classic “The Goonies.” (Photo provided)
Indie film premiering on Whidbey Island

Filmed almost entirely on Whidbey Island, “A Momentary Diversion on the Road to the Grave” is set to premiere in Langley.

TSR image only
Does your elementary school child have ADHD?

It’s important to identify children with this condition so we can help them succeed in school.

The 2023 Infiniti QX80 has standard rear-wheel drive and optional four-wheel drive available on all models. (Infiniti)
2023 Infiniti QX80 is powerful and posh

A mighty V8 engine does the work while a luxurious interior provides the pleasure.

This photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions shows a submersible vessel named Titan used to visit the wreckage site of the Titanic. In a race against the clock on the high seas, an expanding international armada of ships and airplanes searched Tuesday, June 20, 2023, for the submersible that vanished in the North Atlantic while taking five people down to the wreck of the Titanic. (OceanGate Expeditions via AP)
A new movie based on OceanGate’s Titan submersible tragedy is in the works: ‘Salvaged’

MindRiot announced the film, a fictional project titled “Salvaged,” on Friday.

A clump of flowering ornamental grass or pennisetum alopecuroides in an autumn garden.
My garden runneth over with fountain grasses, and for good reason

These late-blooming perennials come in many varieties. They work well as accents, groundcovers, edgings or in containers.

Most Read