Maggie's Plan (2016)

Here New York singleton Maggie is played by Greta Gerwig, an actress who can be funny and serious, pretty and plain, switching from one to the other in seconds. Her original plan is to have a baby through a sperm donor, although later in the movie she conceives (sorry for the pun) another plan involving her husband, self-absorbed academic John (Ethan Hawke in a classic verbose role), and his ex-wife, the Danish ambitious academic Georgette (the ever-able Juliette Moore). The moral of the story is that our plans often don't work out as we expect and, even when they do, it might not actually be because of us.I think this is an under-rated movie with interesting characters and real charm. There are no action sequences or dramatic conflicts, but it is quietly engaging and insightful. Rebecaa Miller wrote and directed it from the novel by Karen Rinaldi and the most intriguing relationship is between Maggie and Georgette, so some will be tempted to dismiss it as a woman's film, but I recommend it to anyone who wants something a bit more lifelike and thoughtful compared to the more traditional rom-com.

New Yorker Maggie Hardin (Greta Gerwig) wants to have a baby. Her relationships never last more than six months except her college romance with best friend Tony (Bill Hader) but that doesn't count. She decides to get sperm from college acquaintance, pickle entrepreneur Guy Childers. She works at an art school with Tony's wife Felicia (Maya Rudolph) and John Harding (Ethan Hawke). Maggie and John meet over a paycheck mixup and start a relationship over a novel he's trying to write. He's unhappily married to Columbia professor Georgette (Julianne Moore) with two kids.The appeal of this movie depends a lot on one's appreciation of Gerwig's flighty, quirky persona. It's a rom-com where the romance is not the most likable. Harding starts off poorly and I never find him a good match for Maggie. Even the pickle guy is better although Tony could be the best if there is no Felicia. I'm actually glad at the turn in the second half of the movie and it becomes an anti-rom-com. The funniest relationship is between Maggie and Georgette. The movie could do with more of them together.

Maggie's Plan, the new film from writer/director Rebecca Miller, is an absolute joy of a film. What initially drew me to the film and more, or less convinced me to go out and see it at the theatre was because of it's star, Greta Gerwig. Over the past couple of years with the promptings and recommendations of a good friend, I have been introduced to Gerwig's work with her partner and fellow writer and director, Noah Baumbach. I haven't seen their work together on the film Greenberg yet, but films such as Frances Ha and Mistress America, were films I absolutely adored and made me an instant fan of Gerwig's writing as well as her very natural yet nuanced performances in the films. I have also found that Baumbach who in films such as Squid and the Whale and Margot at the Wedding, could be very bitter and cynical at times with his characters and screenplays, which is not a criticism as both Squid and Margot are very well done films, but since he has been paired with Gerwig as an actress as well as doing co-authorship of the films, I have found Baumbach's films to be a lot more playful and also have a certain feel of the French New Wave films of the 1960's as well as a certain freshness that captures the spirit and the times of today's generation of millennials as well as being totally and completely relatable and also a lot of fun and also very pleasant viewing material. What modern day twenty something could not relate to the aloof and sometimes despondent feeling of post secondary education life as well as trying to find a job and a name for yourself like what was done so brilliantly and effectively in Frances Ha? Gerwig, who I always find really seems to brighten any picture that she's in, does continue to do great work in Maggie's Plan also. The film has certain qualities that are somewhat relatable to her work with Baumbach, such as the naturalistic acting as well as being a twenty, or thirty something young adult who still has so much yearning and curiosity not only about herself, but the world around her and in this case the ever so complicated world and events of relationships comes into play. Here as in the other films, the characters are all very hip and modern and have a certain relaxed and at ease quality to them that I personally find quite charming and perhaps more accurate of today's generation of college and post college university students than the mainstream garbage that Hollywood is trying to capture. Trust this and other indies to do a much better job on that. While at times, Maggie's Plan seems to borrow from the usual standard ideas and plot devices that go with most romantic comedies, or films dealing with relationships, I am happy to say that I enjoyed this one ever so much more than the usual fare that is out there not just because of the absolutely well scripted and written characters, but also because like the other films I mentioned, the characters all have a very relaxed yet very likable charm to them which at times is absolutely radiating and it is hard not to either empathize with them, or feel total joy in watching their everyday lives because they are so carefree yet so human that it is easy to relate and have fun with them at the same time. All three main actors from Gerwig to Ethan Hawke and Julianne Moore are all terrific here and they all continue to show what great actors they are in general and how their performances are elevated so much more by a great script and a very capable director. The film has fun with it's look at relationships and the things that make them complicated, but also the things that we all probably look for in life and in love with other people. There are certainly good times and bad and it is all chronicled here in perfect order and there is always a certain joy and optimism, especially with Gerwig's character that I found to be absolutely infectious and kept me in a continued almost happy like bliss while watching her and her character. This is a very insightful films on life and love that proves to be a lot better than the run of the mill stuff we usually see at theatres and it is so much better than that and also a lot of fun as well. Terrific writing, performances and direction make Maggie's Plan so much better than I thought it would be and yet it comes out as one of this year's best hidden gems and one that deserves to be sought out and seen by others who are curious, or enticed about anything I mentioned above.

There is a certain type of romantic comedy that I've come to call New York style. These comedies began with the films of Woody Allen and more and more are making their way to the screen. I call them this because they almost always seem to take place in a world that few know, that present an idealistic world in the city of New York and tend to take on the most cosmopolitan atmosphere. Characters in these movies live in one of the highest priced markets in the country yet seem to have jobs that afford them the opportunities to live in extremely nice houses/apartments, the ability to stay at home to work writing and to raise a group of children who go to private schools rather than the public school system we're always told is in need in the city. As I said, an idealistic world. But that isn't a criticism.In MAGGIE'S PLAN we're introduced to a quirky young woman named Maggie (Great Gerwig), a career counselor at a university who has decided she wants to have a child. She doesn't want a husband or father for the child, just the child. In trying to achieve this goal she asks a friend named Guy (Travis Fimmel) to donate his sperm to the cause to which he agrees. Before this takes place she makes the acquaintance of a young writer/professor named John (Ethan Hawke).As she and John become close he asks her to read his novel in progress which she does, complimenting him with each page. In a marriage to a Georgette (Julianne Moore), a woman who seems out of touch with real emotion, John feels trapped and soon finds himself in love with Maggie. The same night she attempts artificial insemination (with a turkey baster no less) he shows at her doorstep and the two end up in bed together.Maggie does indeed become pregnant and John makes the decision to leave Georgette and marry Maggie. All goes along for several years until Maggie makes the decision that perhaps she isn't really in love with John after all. After meeting Georgette and talking to her she also begins to consider the distinct possibility that John and Georgette were actually meant for one another. And so begins her plan, her attempt to push John out the door, manipulating him along with Georgette, to return to his former wife and family.As I was saying the concept of switching from one woman to another usually results in bitter feuds and divorce cases in most movies. In this "sophisticated" type of comedy the wives become friends instead and work together to achieve a mutual goal. A moment or two is spent on the children involved from his first marriage and how they are affected while little is done to the child John and Maggie have together due to her age. In addition to this Maggie also has well to do friends, a married couple played by Bill Hader and Maya Rudolph, who also seem on the upward track when it comes to career and housing.As a romantic comedy it does have its moments, several of which may actually make you laugh out loud. The acting is very well done by all involved with, the only exception of which might be Moore and her accent. Her cold and unfeeling character comes alive after John has left her and it makes it difficult to believe that she ever felt anything prior. At moments I worried that even her children would like Maggie better than her and want to stay with Maggie instead. I even wondered if they would prefer Maggie to both of their parents at one point.I doubt that this movie will make anyone's top ten list but it will offer a night's entertainment that will have you guessing what will happen until the end. A nice little tag in the last few moments offers a sweet surprise that I though was charming. In all I found it a movie that I could watch again with ease but with a finger on the fast forward button to move through a few moments a second viewing might require. But during a first viewing my guess is most will find they will never have to touch that button and will find themselves charmed by this young woman who wants nothing more than her own child and in the end gets more than she bargained for.