TRAILER OF THE DAY! Margaret Sees The Light Of Day

Kenneth Lonergan is a hell of a writer and director and it's a damn shame that we haven't seen a new film from the man in over a decade.  His last project, Margaret, had one of the most coveted scripts in Hollywood at the time and Lonergan assembled a cast that included Anna Paquin, Mark Ruffalo, Matthew Broderick and a now-baby-faced Matt Damon.  However, once Lonergan went into post-production all hell broke loose.  Lonergan did not see eye to eye with Fox Searchlight, submitting a final cut to the studio that clocked in over three hours.  The few who saw Lonergan's cut described it as brilliant, but the studio deemed the film "unreleasable."  Lonergan even (supposedly) refused editing assistance from names like Scorcese and Sydney Pollack.  Lawsuits and counter-suits were filed, but Searchlight refused to either fire Lonergan or pay for more post-production, so the film's been sitting on a shelf for the past two years.

In the end, Lonergan borrowed money from his close friend (and cast member) Matthew Broderick and finally cut the film into something the studio could live with.  Now the film will be sneaking into theaters in just a few weeks and the trailer has finally made its way online.

I love what I'm seeing here.  The cast is obviously top-notch, but the story looks compelling as hell.  The film's tortured history makes it something of a curiosity case, but all that backstage drama aside, this thing still feels right up my alley.  I really hope people show up for this one, if for no other reason than it increases the chances we might actually see another Lonergan movie before 2020.