Maggie’s Plan

June 10, 20165 min

As a person who has gone though life and its tribulations I think I could write a pretty good story. That statement right there probably could be uttered by anyone over thirty-five. Our stories would all be similar in a lot of ways, birth, adolescence, love, and waiting for death, so not a lot to look forward to. Movies often try to tell those stories, while some hit close to home, others are a bit outside the lines. Some writers have a way of creating a world that seems like the world you know, only everyone seems to talk excessively as they describe everything that comes to their mind. The first name that is synonymous with that is of course Woody Allen, but there are others waiting to step in if needed.

Like Allen’s movies, casting is everything, as they have to bring the words, all of them, come to life. Writer and director Rebecca Miller understands that, and with her new film, she gets quite a bit of it right. Maggie (Greta Gerwig) has done pretty well living her life on her own. She has reached a point where she wants a baby, and being single she decides to do that with the help of a donor. Life though gets in the way of even the most perfect of plans, as she meets John (Ethan Hawke), a man who seems lost because of his marriage. John is married to Georgette (Julianne Moore) whose ego seems to get in the way of her and John’s marriage, leading John to fall in love with Maggie. Things happen and later John and Maggie have a little girl, as Maggie tries to control life, as John writes the afore mentioned never-ending novel about his life. Soon Maggie believes her marriage is crumbling and comes up with a plan to reunite John and Georgette for a second chance and happily ever after.

All the pieces are in place for a very much Woody Allen kind of feel. The cast, lead by the always-delightful Gerwig falls into their roles as if they were all written just for them. That is the beauty of these films, is that the actors who are in them can fit like the cogs of a clock. Gerwig is not the only shinning star in this sky, as the cast makes up a perfect constellation, with Hawke and Moore joining Gerwig as a triple threat. While not everything comes up smelling like roses, the few flaws the film has does little to damper your enjoyment while watching it. “Maggie’s Plan” has me looking forward to what Miller brings next to the screen, because she has a gift for the gab and I like the plan she is following.

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