From the title you’d be forgiven for thinking that that is yet another film about Thatcher however you could be further from the the truth. The title is taken from a Gerard Manley Hopkins poem read by a private school English teacher (Mathew Broderick)about the loss of innocence and idealism in a world that is disappointing, greedy and vengeful and is the subject a class discussion with  Lisa, a  well to do, 17 year old American girl (played by Anna Paquin) who inadvertently plays a role in a road traffic accident.  One day her biggest problem is where to buy a cowboy hat, the next in a twist to the aforementioned she has inadvertently caused the death of another human being. The question the film What would you do?’ Can she live with the guilt of knowing that she played a part in an innocent persons demise.

Worried that the bus driver will lose his job she lies to cover up for him only to then be then caught up in the aftermath whilst living in the knowledge of what really happened. She seems determined to put things right whilst never actually admitting it was her fault until right near the end of this two and a half hour movie. Originally the film , written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan was three hours long, causing numerous lawsuits over its release date whilst an attempt to edit took place.  The resulting film is a little disjointed. Whether is be down to writing directing or acting Paquin has managed to create that rare thing in a film which is a lead character you don’t actually like or care about. You find her frustrating. You want to scream at her, shout at her, grab her and shake her until she admits she was the catalyst to the events which follow, these include confrontations with the police, the bus driver, her mother, her father, the dead woman’s friend, her teachers, school pals and members of the opposite sex but you can’t help but watch as she presses the self destruct button and waits for the aftermath.  It is after these series of events that she finally tells the truth.  Along the way here’s an insight into the mother-daughter relationship, growing up, class, education, guilt and gender. She appears to have inherited her drama queen tendencies from her self absorbed Broadway stage star mother (J Smith Cameron) Its certainly not a feel good film, it’s a film to make you think. There are open ended questions, it engages you yet leaves you frustrated and with a lot of work to do.  There are a lot of unanswered questions but its different and that’s what you’ll either love about it or hate about it.  Poignantly at one stage in the film the dead woman’s friend tells Lisa ‘This isn’t an opera and we’re not all supporting characters in the drama of your amazing life’ however that’s pretty much what they are and its with therefore some irony that the Mother and daughter finally reconnect  at the Opera.

Being Lonergans first film since 2000 when he released the acclaimed ‘You can count on me’, ‘Margaret; received rave reviews from ‘Time Out’ , ‘The Daily Telegraph’ and ‘The Guardian’ with Paquin receiving a nomination for Best Actress from The Chicago Film Critic Association, also staring Matt Damon, the film was originally set to be released in 2007 by Fox Searchlight pictures but only recently finally saw the light of day. Try it if you can just to see something a little different and thought provoking but I guarantee you’ll be restless in your seat with frustration and anger. Two and a half hours is long enough.  I can only thank goodness I didn’t see it in the confines of a cinema.