Starring: Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, Julianne Moore, Travis Fimmel, Bill Hader, Maya Rudolph
Maggie's Plan
Director: Rebecca Miller
Rating: 3.5/5
If you are looking for a film that's more about character drama than special effects this weekend, Maggie's Plan could well be the film for you as Rebecca Miller returns to the director's chair.
This is the first film for Miller since The Private Lives of Pippa Lee back in 2009 and it is the first time that the director has collaborated with actress Greta Gerwig, who takes on the title role.
Maggie is a vibrant and practical thirty-something New Yorker working at the New School who, without success in finding love, who decides now is the time to have a child on her own. But when she meets John Harding (Hawke) a 'ficto-critical anthropologist' and struggling novelist, Maggie falls in love for the first time, and adjusts her plans for motherhood. Complicating matters, John is in a strained marriage with a brilliant Danish academic, Georgette Nørgaard (Moore).
With a Greek chorus of Maggie's eccentric and hilarious best friends Tony and Felicia (Hader and Rudolph) observing wryly from the sidelines, Maggie sets into motion a new plan that catapults her into a nervy love triangle with John and Georgette; intertwining their lives and connecting them in surprising and the humorous new ways. Maggie learns that sometimes destiny should be left to its own devices.
I have been a fan of Gerwig for quite some time and Maggie's Plan sees the actress take on another quirky character... and she is just as charming as ever. Gerwig has played a string of modern women in recent years and Maggie sees her explore a similar role.
It is Gerwig who really dominates this film a young woman who is still trying to find her way in the world. Maggie is a conflicted and, at times, a lost young woman who is trying to navigate her way through the world and decide what it is she wants from her life - something that we can all relate to.
I love her chemistry with Ethan Hawke, while Oscar-winner Julianne Moore is also terrific as Hawke's wife. She delivers a somewhat OTT performance that is just fantastically funny.
Maggie's Plan is a movie that I have been looking forward to and Miller really did not disappoint. This is a witty and intelligent movie that really is a class above most of the other romantic comedies that have hit the big screen so far this year.
Miller has crafted an intriguing story as well as some interesting characters and she really has breathed new life into the rom-com genre; which has been pretty lacklustre so far this year.
If you are a fan of Greta Gerwig, Maggie's Plan is not to be missed as she delivers a wonderfully quirky and charming performance as a character that you cannot help but root for. Supporting by Hawke and Moore, they make a wonderful central trio and you do get swept away in their story.
Maggie's Plan is out now.
Tagged in Greta Gerwig