With news that Margaret, Kenneth Lonergan‘s follow-up to 2000’s You Can Count On Me, has indeed been cut to just under the contractually-obligated 2 and a half hours (2 hours, 29 minutes, and 40 seconds to be exact) running time, I pray for the day we, the people, are given a peek inside what exactly happened to the film, which languished in post-production hell for more than 5 years. Something not unlike the fascinating Overnight, the documentary that chronicles the meteoric rise and legendary fall of The Boondock Saints and its writer/director Troy Duffy, would be much appreciated.
Since the fall of 2005, when the film was in principal photography, two of the film’s producers, Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack, have died; Anna Paquin, the film’s star, went from transitioning former child actress to full-blown on-screen sex pot in HBO’s True Blood (see how different); Mark Ruffalo, who plays a crucial role in the film, is now the third big-screen incarnation of the Hulk; Olivia Thirlby and Rosemarie DeWitt, both with bit roles in Margaret, are accomplished character actresses in their own right, Thirlby about to headline an alien blockbuster (The Darkest Hour). Governments have been overthrown and then taken back; wars fought and won and so on.
It’s indie film’s Cleopatra. Martin Scorsese tried to help; so did his editor, Thelma Schoonmaker. It apparently didn’t do much good, thanks in part to Lonergan’s “irrational behavior” and inability to “keep regular hours.” Among these claims is one that Lonergan borrowed a whole slew of money from friend and Margaret co-star Matthew Broderick, upwards of $1 million, to finish the film.
And while the film’s storied history and troubled past will certainly cloud initial reactions for some, we will know if Lonergan truly delivered around 10 years from now. So this is just the beginning.
The film will be released by Fox Searchlight on September 30th, 2011.
Will you see Margaret?