Rent Margaret (2011)

Long but worth it, if you have the patience - Margaret review by CP Customer

Having been impressed by the script of Manchester by the Sea, I was curious to see Kenneth Lonergan's earlier work. He has a knack of telling tales that are true to life, even if that means it takes a while. And I loved Jean Reno in Leon. Manchester is very much about men and boys, whereas the focus of this film is all about the girl and her relationships, with boys and her mother. The cast is interesting in that the well known males, Damon, Ruffalo and Reno all play minor, yet important roles. Anna Paquin is so real, it doesn't seem she is acting. New York, and American culture also star. It is about the consequences of your actions: however minor and mundane they might seem at the time.

This film is not a great, memorable blockbuster, but if you are young, and growing up, or just want to revisit those times, it is well crafted and rewarding in the end. If you have 3 hours of your life to spare.

So now I have to watch his first

Not amazing. - Margaret review by RC

It's ok. Not worth 3 hours of your life. By the end you really don't care what happens. Possibly one that is over my head. A bit nothingy really.

Needs a good edit - Margaret review by TE

This is the "director's cut" of 'Margaret'. It comes in at just about 3 hours in length, and, for once, it seems like the studio suits were right: it would be a better film for some intelligent editing.

The acting, especially Anna Pacquin, is uniformly excellent. Unfortunately this good quality gets diluted in the repetition within the story line, and the sheer flabbiness of the script threatens to overwhelm the whole enterprise.

It's still a brave and worthy film though, and it's way better than the current crop of teenage angst movies. You can see glimmerings of how Kenneth Lonergan went on to make 'Manchester By the Sea'.