Growing Up

 A movie I love is Kenneth Longergan's "Margaret."

After "You Can Count on Me," Lonergan was clearly able to do whatever he liked. He had so much support. The cast of "Margaret" is ridiculously starry: Oscar winner Anna Paquin, Oscar winner Matt Damon, Oscar winner Allison Janney, Oscar nominee Mark Ruffalo, Tony winner John Gallagher, Tony winner Matthew Broderick, Oscar nominee Jeannie Berlin, Globes nominee Kieran Culkin, indie darling Rosemarie DeWitt. Martin Scorsese chipped in. 

Here's the story. Lisa, a volatile teenager, is walking down a Manhattan street. She sees a bus driver, Mark Ruffalo, in a fun hat; she wants to chat with him about the hat. Ruffalo--clearly flattered and aroused by a young person's interest--takes his eyes off the road. And a pedestrian ends up dead.

This is too much for Lisa to handle. Really, how could anyone cope? She has some culpability here. And what should she say to the police? If she tells the truth about the driver, he may lose his job. But perhaps he *should* lose his job?

Meanwhile--amazingly--Lisa's life keeps rolling along. She becomes entangled with her creepy math teacher. She argues that algebra really doesn't have value, and that adults are crazed, self-delusional, and lost. She smokes pot in Central Park. She makes a few sketches.

The reason the script is so special is that it finds "wonder" in tiny, tiny details. A woman goes on an opera date and complains about the pretentiousness of people shouting BRAVA!! Her date refuses to meet her where she's at. He mansplains that BRAVA refers to *female* singers--something that all featured parties are already aware of. The camera follows this couple. Should one half push back against the other half? Is it worth it to say, "You're missing my point"? A world of sadness in this seemingly banal discussion.

An ineffectual teacher tries to end marijuana abuse; you can see, in his face and in his posture, that he is aware of his tactical loss even before he begins the battle. You can sense the dismay he feels regarding his own nerdiness. All of this is half-repressed.

In one amazing scene, a father tries to conduct a phone conversation with his daughter. The topic is weighty. A new girlfriend walks in, and she demands to know about dietary restrictions; a fraught camping trip is on the horizon, and menu items need to be reviewed. You can see something homicidal in the man's eyes: "Can't this wait???" But two warring monologues continue to unspool, as the dad takes deep breaths. Which other writer would notice something like this--in a movie?

As others have noted, "Margaret" falls apart toward the end. But I think the BRAVA fight is worth the price of admission. I feel for all of these people. I wish Lonergarn would write more for the big screen.