Margaret

A coming of age drama that adds a little extra spice. Usually films like these are content with just showing the characters and their everyday struggles growing up, I would say Margaret is slightly more ambitious. I don't feel Lonergan was entirely successful, but he at least gets points for trying.

Lisa is a pretty typical teen, her life is turned upside down when she inadvertently causes a traffic accident by distracting a bus driver. The victim dies in her arms, which leaves an indelible impression. At first she tries to protect the driver and herself, but guilt keeps gnawing on her, prompting Lisa to seek out the family of the victim.

It's somewhat interesting to see how a single event can impact the outlook on life of a person, performances are solid and the presentation is decent, but the film's a little long in the tooth and the drama does get a little overbearing. Not a bad film, but it didn't feel all that memorable or special and three hours really was a bit much.