Margaret
Dir: Kenneth Lonergan
2011
*
I was really looking forward to Kenneth Lonergan's long awaited follow up to You can count on me, the various problems in the production of the film are well documented so when the film was finally released it was a mixture of relief and excitement. That'll learn me. Don't believe the hype, You can count on me was a sleepy hit, a good film but in retrospect nothing to get over excited about, it was a bit of a slow year. Margaret is one of the most frustrating, pointless and stupid films I have ever seen. If your idea of watching a collection of vacuous and ignorant stereotypes poorly communicating with one another to a classical score (thus pretending to be an Opera) then this is the film for you! The fact that it was 2 and a half hours long only made it more torturous. It is a horrible mess, a contrived and confused half idea that didn't/doesn't work. Why did it take so long to produce/edit? Because it is hollow, shallow and without substance. It's a nothing film. An expensive mistake, a sheep in wolfs clothing, the Emperors new clothes. Absolute nonsense. Provocative, offensive and annoying, I'm agog at the praise it received on release.