In this awful film, screenwriter-director Rebecca Miller aspires to a Woody Allen-style drama-comedy. The characters are pseudo sophisticated New Yorkers engaged in a game of musical love chairs. Like Allen's recent screenplays, "Maggie's Plan" even attempts to draw upon a classic work work of literature in Shakespeare's comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Unfortunately, the film fails in all of these goals.
The main ingredient that is missing is Woody Allen's clever dialogue. His own films often feature well-known actors stretching into a flimsy roles. The sparkling dialogue can compensate for plot holes and far-fetched situations.
In "Maggie's Dream," the situations are entirely unbelievable, especially in the lead character of Maggie (Greta Gerwig). It was never apparent that she was in love with the writer-professor John Harding (Ethan Hawke). And it was never credible that she too was a faculty member, who never brought any worked home.
The third part of the love triangle was a star turn by Julianne Moore, affecting a strange Slavic accent as Georgette, another member of the New York intelligentsia. The serial adultery of the characters was not funny, and the family system was as disturbing as that of "August: Osage County." By the end of the film, the viewer recognizes that Maggie never really had a "plan," especially for her own life. In "A Midsummer Night's Dream," it is possible to empathize with the young people, who are the victims of magic tricks played on them in the forest. In "Maggie's Plan," the tricks played by Maggie, John, and Georgette are neither amusing nor life-affirming. And the reason is that they are being played on themselves.
The main ingredient that is missing is Woody Allen's clever dialogue. His own films often feature well-known actors stretching into a flimsy roles. The sparkling dialogue can compensate for plot holes and far-fetched situations.
In "Maggie's Dream," the situations are entirely unbelievable, especially in the lead character of Maggie (Greta Gerwig). It was never apparent that she was in love with the writer-professor John Harding (Ethan Hawke). And it was never credible that she too was a faculty member, who never brought any worked home.
The third part of the love triangle was a star turn by Julianne Moore, affecting a strange Slavic accent as Georgette, another member of the New York intelligentsia. The serial adultery of the characters was not funny, and the family system was as disturbing as that of "August: Osage County." By the end of the film, the viewer recognizes that Maggie never really had a "plan," especially for her own life. In "A Midsummer Night's Dream," it is possible to empathize with the young people, who are the victims of magic tricks played on them in the forest. In "Maggie's Plan," the tricks played by Maggie, John, and Georgette are neither amusing nor life-affirming. And the reason is that they are being played on themselves.