August 15th, 2011 at 9:00 am by
Sheri
It appears Matt Damon will have two films in theaters at the same time. Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion that will be released September 9 and You Can Count on Me director Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret, which will be released September 30. Margaret is the story of a young woman (Anna Paquin) who witnesses a bus accident and becomes caught up the aftemath; the motivations and consequences that affect the lives of the people involved.
Margaret was filmed nearly six years ago (which means pre-True Blood for Paquin. Her character in the film is 17. The 29 year old actress was 23 at the time) and has been on the shelf awaiting a release date due to legal problems too tedious to outline here. I mention it because, unlike a lot of cases, they have nothing to do with the quality of the finished product or producers faith in it. It took Martin Scorcese to come to the rescue of the movie (he exec produced Lonergan’s first filmYou Can Count on Me). He’s called the film “a masterpiece”, a word also used by co-star Mark Ruffalo who added that it’s “beautifully shot, beautifully acted, and the writing is incredible,” as well as a “love story to a post-9/11 America and New York City.”
Scorsese lent Lonergan his longtime editor, Thelma Schoonmaker, but Lonergan is said to be difficult to work with, but in any case, it appears the project is finally finished to everyone’s satisfaction and the film is now being rushed out to the marketplace. Considering how jam-packed this autumn already is, I’m a little surprised at the timing, although it might have something to do with the 10th anniversary of 9/11, but what to do I know? In addition to Damon, Paquin and Ruffalo, the cast of Margaret includes Allison Janney, Matthew Broderick, Kieran Culkin, Jean Reno (what did I say about him the other day? An omen?), Krysten Ritter, Olivia Thirlby and Rosemary DeWitt, most of whom have considerably higher profiles today than they did six years ago.
Synopsis: 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.
