Variety, 23 February 1998, by Todd McCarthy
"The Misadventures of Margaret (movie reviews)"
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A TF1 Intl. and Granada presentation with the participation 
of the European Co-Production Fund (U.K.) of a Lunatics & 
Lovers/Granada production in co-production with Mandarin and 
TF1 Films with the participation  of Canal Plus in 
association with Film 50. (International sales: TF1 Intl., 
Paris.) Produced by Ian Benson. Executive prOducers, Andy 
Harries, Pippa Cross, Dominique Green. Co-producers, Nicolas 
Altmayer, Eric Altmayer. 

Directed, written by Brian Skeet, based on the novel 
"Rameau's Niece" by Cathleen Schine. Camera (Rank color), 
Romain Winding; editor, Clare Douglas; music, St Etienne; 
production design, Martin Childs; art direction, Charlotte 
Watts (U.K.), Didier Naert (France), John McFarlane (U.S.); 
set decoration, Jennifer Halpern (U.S.); costume design, Edi 
Giguere; sound (Dolby), Peter Glossop; makeup and hair 
design, Jan Sewell; line producer, Mark Cooper, Edith Colnel 
(France); associate producers, Andrew Holmes, Michael 
Wilson; assistant directors, Simon Moseley (U.K.), Dominique 
Delany (France), Jude Gorjanc (U.S.); casting, Vanessa 
Pereira, Simone Ireland. Reviewed at Sundance Film Festival 
(Premieres), Jan. 19, 1998. Running time: 105 MIN. 

   Margaret Nathan               Parker Posey
   Edward Nathan               Jeremy Northam
   Richard Lane                 Craig Chester
   Till Turner             Elizabeth McGovern
   Lily                        Brooke Shields
   Art Turner                  Corbin Bernsen
   Young Girl                 Justine Waddell
   Martin                       Patrick Bruel
   The Philosopher            Stephane Freiss
   Dr. Lipi                    Alexis Denisof
   Sarah from Brighton           Amy Phillips

A lamentable attempt to recapture the appeal of classic 
Hollywood romantic comedies, "The Misadventures of Margaret" 
falls flat on its face right out of the gate and never gets 
back on its feet. Arch, unfunny and annoying, this mostly 
Gotham-set British-French co-production makes even its most 
talented cast members look bad and has dire commercial 
prospects. What it was doing at the Sundance Film Festival 
is a question for the ages. 

Based on a novel by Cathleen Schine, this first feature by 
British former documaker Brian Skeet tries to be oh-so-
naughty by taking a sexually frank approach to the sort of 
material that used to be handled with  discretion and 
innuendo. But making all the women unpleasantly catty sex-
on-the-brain neurotics and throwing in a liberal dose of 
(mostly male) nudity rep just a couple of the many misguided 
gambits in a film that emerges as a curdled version of 
Hollywood's sophisticated "divorce comedies" such as "The 
Awful Truth." 

Parker Posey, in her only poor performance to date, plays 
Margaret Nathan, a bestselling author so unaccountably 
insecure that she can barely put in an appearance at an 
award party in her honor. Married for seven years to low-key 
but hunky college prof Edward (Jeremy Northam), the 
impossibly cranky Margaret is restless despite her hubby's 
endless attentiveness, and decides to address her writer's 
block on her latest novel, an elaboration on some erotic 
French 18th-century diary fragments, by taking a trip to 
France for "research." 

Ready for anything after her down-and-dirty conversations 
with playwright sister Till (Elizabeth McGovern) and 
bisexual friend Lily (Brooke Shields), Margaret books a room 
at the country chateau where all the literary sexcapades 
took place years ago, but upon arrival is crushed to 
discover that it is now a convent for cloistered singing 
nuns. However, there is one other guest, a handsome, 
divorced French sound engineer, Martin (Patrick Bruel), who 
is recording the nuns and inspires Margaret further toward 
the brink of infidelity. 

Back in Manhattan, Margaret has further fantasies, the most 
gratuitous of which involves her vividly imagining a bunch 
of men playing basketball naked in Central Park, and begins 
to suspect that Edward may be having an affair with a comely 
student. Implausibly, Edward welcomes the visiting Martin 
into his home, which opens the door to Margaret to fool 
around with the Frenchman right under his nose, but by now 
the film has long since lost any claim on the viewer's 
serious attention anyway. 

Big problem from the get-go is the lack of any sympathetic 
rationale for Margaret's behavior. While her gay best friend 
and editor Richard (Craig Chester) may encourage her "to 
throw her last scruple to the wind," the viewer feels no 
desire for Margaret to do so, and the all-talk, no-action 
imbalance the film demonstrates on its single topic of 
interest, adultery, makes it seem timid despite its constant 
attempts at "ribald" titillation. 

Screenplay is larded with weak attempts at flip, 
epigrammatic dialogue, and general approach could scarcely 
be more out of step with current audience concerns or 
sensibilities. Direction, makeup, photography and costuming 
of the actresses, including an unflatteringly staged nude 
scene for Posey, are particularly unbecoming, and 
performance style overall is far too artificial and brittle. 
Locations are nice, while the score leans, for no particular 
reason, toward disco. 



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