The Misadventures of Margaret

My mom and I were going through the channels, and were about to resort to our well-worn video collection when we stumbled upon a nameless film with a young woman yelling at a man. My first impression was "Hey, that's Parker Posey!", and so began our little adventure viewing (most of) The Misadventures of Margaret. I've seen a few "chick flicks" in my time, although most leave me cold. When I use the too common term, I'm talking about anything that involves two of the three: 1) a love-centered plot line, 2) a woman striving for harmony with her inner self, 3) accurate, almost overly-done period piece costumes. A slight warning to those who aren't inclined to give this film a fair shot: it has all three in abundance.

However, the film also has some of the best acting I've seen out of Ms. Posey, great characters along with the title one (especially Elisabeth McGovern as Margaret's sister, and a disturbing pseudo-cameo by Alexis Denisof, who I'd only ever seen as Wesley on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. It's almost disturbing to see him play a sex symbol--not that I minded!), and some of the most entertaining women-centered writing I've heard in *any* flick (chick or otherwise) in a very long time. Women-centered in that it manages to make the characters sound like modern women without turning them into cynical harpies or caricatures of the feminist movement (or, worse, icons of a "better" set of values, when a woman's heart is only as full as her husband's stomach.) I'm starting to think that Mystic Pizza is going to have to share my title for Best Girlie Film. ;)

This film is about an author who tries to write a follow up to her successful erotic novel debut. In the process of her research, she begins to question her marriage.

"The Misadventures of Margaret" tries to be an erotic romantic comedy, but it does not achieve either way. The production is B grade, looking more like a movie with a very tight budget. The plot is a little strange, jumping from fantasy and reality. Some of the fantasy scenes are laughable, and it's not a good thing. Most scenes are not that memorable either. I think "The Misadventures of Margaret" is a miss, despite a great cast.

I love Parker Posey's movies, but this one was horrible. The dialogue was strangely paced, Parker's character had absolutely no depth or reason to care about her, the tension of the fidelity issues between her and her husband was played out entirely wrong.

The whole film had a navel-gazing stupor to it, with only a few characters seemingly able to rise above it's silliness. Parker's husband, and her gay editor are the two people who perform their roles with any kind of natural behavior. Kudos also to Brooke Shields, in a minor role with some funny moments.

All in all, however, this movie left me cold. The plot was slow, and culminated in an entirely unbelievable scene between Parker and her husband. The dialogue was delivered far too quickly and not enough was said to make you identify with anyone. The editing was also odd: a character would be in New York in one frame, then Paris in another with nothing to let you know why.

If you want to see Parker in a better light, watch The House of Yes or The Anniversary Party. Avoid this movie at all costs.

While not the best movie, it was certainly enjoyable to watch. sadly, i have only seen (and own!) the American DVD which is twenty minutes shorter with most of the nudity edited out. and who couldn't use a little more nudity featuring Jeremy Northam? Hmmmm... Jeremy Northam.... but i digress. the best part of the movie is the soundtrack! performed oh so perfectly by Saint Etienne. they even released it (only in Japan) as "The Misadventures Of Saint Etienne". since the film didn't really do very well box office-wise, the cd was made in very limited quantities and went out of print quickly. i wish more of it was used in the film as it's barely heard.

Saw at LFF - very good indeed.

Go and see for Brooke Shields; she is a riot as a lesbian femme fatale!

Parker is a bit irritating, but beautiful!

Good film.