Wednesday, September 14, 2016

MAGGIE'S PLAN: ROMANCE NEW YORK STYLE



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.

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