Margaret (2011): stressful cinema you can do without

I watched this film a couple of weeks ago and I still haven’t written up a review for it because I haven’t been able to really bring myself to think about it again - probably because it was more of a stressful experience than sitting and enjoying a movie.  

The cast boasts Anna Paquin (of True Blood fame), Hollywood heavyweight Matt Damon, Jean Reno from Leon and Matthew Broderick.  I’ve got a real soft spot for Broderick because of Election, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is one of my favourite films, but even the presence of the righteous dude couldn’t redeem this film for me.  Mark Ruffalo is a favourite of mine too (Shutter Island, The Kids Are Alright, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind).  Ruffalo, Damon and Broderick are scarcely in the film though.

 It’s really all about Lisa: a hormonal teenager who seeks to satisfy her insatiable desire for conflict and drama by pestering all of the people who were involved or affected by a horrific bus accident that she witnessed.  Paquin gives a powerful and convincing performance throughout so you can’t really blame her for the films failure.  You can’t simply blame the fact that the character is especially detestable either – we’ve seen anti-heroes and super villains time and time again in cinema, and they can be some of the most engrossing characters to watch.  

The film’s problem is that it focusses entirely on this high-strung, volatile, bitchy adolescent as she goes about a mundane course of day-to-day life, seeking attention and rubbing people up the wrong way.  There’s no real point to all this.  The conclusion resolves to say nothing more than “she’s probably like this because of her age and she doesn’t get along with her mum” or something.

Margaret is nothing more than a character study of a stereotypically hostile, obnoxious teenager.  There’s no clear controlling idea, it wallows it ambiguity and the attempts to reference Shakespeare are laughably pretentious.  It’s too long, entirely stressful to sit through and has no real payoff at the end.

'Official' TV appearance #3

I made my third official TV appearance on Friday night's Moviejuice.  Check it out (available for a month).  I say 'official' because when I was about 6 years old in primary school, the headmaster took our class on a trip to visit Hercules the bear - a trained bear who had appeared in film and TV as a career.  When we visited him there was a Japanese TV crew doing a feature on him, so I probably unwittingly appeared on Japanese TV about 16 years ago, clapping a bear, eyes wide with wonder and the unrelenting enthusiasm of youth.  Come to think of it, I don't remember signing a release...

Anyway, this 'official' TV appearance was to do a mini review on Hunky Dory, which I've also written up a review for here.  The second time I said a bit about Casablanca - a more substantial list of my thoughts on this incredible film can be read here.  My first appreance was to do a mini review of W.E. which warranted a measly one star in my eyes - my full review can be read here.

Here's a still from the show, I'll see if I can find a picture of me with Hercules too...

Hunky Dory (2011): don't let the critics put you off

People have complained that this film is too formulaic, it’s too glossy and sugar-coated and that it’s so steeped in saccharine sentimentality that it will make the overpriced, syrupy Coke that you bought from the multiplex foyer seem sour and flat. 

While there is definitely truth in the above statement, I think enjoyment of this (and any) film depends on your attitude.  If you go into this film expecting to see some gritty socio-political drama focussing on the oppression of Welsh mining classes, you will be sorely disappointed. You will come out complaining about how populist it is, how it’s so conventionally structured and emotionally sensationalist etc, etc.

If you look at the poster, however, it looks like this:

If you watch the trailer, it looks like this:

If you look at the name it looks like this:

Hunky Dory.

The Collins Dictionary definition is:

Hunky Dory (adj.) informal very satisfactory, fine.

The poster is a lovely snapshot of a group of idyllic young friends having fun the blistering summer of 1976.  It’s all orange and glowing.  The trailer gives a taste of how packed the film is with poppy love songs of the era, how predictable the premise makes the plot, how recognizable the angsty teenage characters are, how petty the conflicts seem in this hazy summer utopia of a bygone Britain and how indulgently reminiscent it is.

The signs are there - everything about the design screams out feel-good mainstream movie.    It is unashamedly populist, unashamedly sensational and is obviously going to be as conventional as any piece of popular cinema.  There’s nothing subtle about the way the film advertises this sense of style.

To know all this, watch the film then criticize it for the glaringly obvious is lazy criticism, at best.  Don’t go and see the film if you know you’re going to suffer an adverse reaction to the sheer amount of light-heartedness going on.  That’s like going into a screening of Shrek with your arms folded for the entire movie then coming out in a huff saying to your bemused/horrified children “the guy’s an ogre but not once did I see a man’s skin being peeled off while he was still alive.”

For those more willing to accept this film for what it so blatantly is, I’d say it’s an easy, feel-good film with and great 70’s soundtrack (from the likes of Bowie and ELO) and superb Welsh accents throughout.  A coming-of-age film set in a specific place and moment in British history, it shares an obvious affinity to Ricky Gervais and Stephen Mechant’s Cemetery Junction as well as Billy Elliot (a couple of the producers made this film too). 

There are a lot of characters so the attempt to squeeze in all of their individual stories is overly ambitious, but the cast are great.  Minnie Driver is easily lovable and I get the feeling you’ll be seeing a lot more of Aneurin Barnard’s face in the future.  The ending is a little bit vague and they try and remedy this by giving a ‘where are they now’ sequence during the end credits – which is a bit half-baked (no reference to the recreational activities of the time intended).

Overall, a likeable film with some nice messages (namely Karl Marx’s sentiment “don't let the bastards grind you down”) and a well-polished style that makes for easy watching.