MARGARET

I was never sure where this movie was going to go. It had so many different aspects and depths; unusual. But in the end it is a wonderfully acted film about the life and emotions of a 17 year old. This role was played most superbly and intensely (sometimes too intensely) by Anna Paquin. She is Lisa, a precocious and highly dramatic teenager; the child of an actress mom who is divorced.

At the beginning of the film, there is a tragic and graphically suddenly gut-wrenchingly realistic bus accident which Lisa witnesses. The lady who is hit dies in her arms and as Lisa eventually finds out, this pedestrian thought Lisa was her dead daughter also of the same name. so this connection and the fact that Lisa (anna paquin's lisa) feels partly responsible for the accident (she was flirting with the bus driver (Mark Ruffalo) who ended up running a red light, leads to many consequences in her life.

We get to see the effects on her blossoming sexual life and her relationships with some of her teachers (Matthew Broderick and Matt Damon), the horrendous angry scenes with her mother, the sadness over her lack of a bonding with her dad who has remarried, her contacting the bus driver wanting him to take responsibility, her involvement with the police department, Lisa's urging the best friend of the dead lady and her cousin to file a wrongful death lawsuit. This movie is quite a journey of dark twists and turns in Lisa's life.

Both of us gave it a 9 though it could have been shortened by about 30 minutes. Too many slow motion group and crowd scenes. Lots of opera music too which isn't my favorite. and there is no character in the film named Margaret.