So I skipped the only London press screening of Margaret last week because I’m already so far behind on absolutely everything, up to and including reviews, and I didn’t figure it for a major release — I was certainly intrigued to see Kenneth Lonergan’s long-delayed followup to his wonderful You Can Count on Me, but I imagined that waiting for DVD would be fine.
But after the London screening, all of a sudden a lot of critics whose opinion I have come to respect in the past year were raving about it… such as Tim Robey of the Telegraph, who after the screening tweeted this:
Kenneth Lonergan’s MARGARET (A) is an instant astonishment, an amazingly rich achievement, and my film of the year. Full review on Friday.
Damn. I made a mistake in skipping that screening.
And in the U.S., Jaime Christley of Slate has started a petition to get Fox Searchlight to back the film for awards, such as by offering more screenings to those critics who didn’t or couldn’t see it back in September (when it got a very limited North American release, no marketing support, and disappeared from the few screens it was on in a matter of weeks).
Not everyone thinks the awards push is a good idea, but now it’s clear that I must see the film for awards consideration, and before it disappears from the single screen it’s on in London. That’s what I’m off to now…
