Writer: Rebecca Miller (Screenplay) Karen Rinaldi (Story)
Starring: Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, Julianne Moore, Bill Hader, Maya Rudolph, Travis Fimmel
Plot: Maggie wants to have a baby, raising him on her own, but when she gets romantically involved with John, a married man, things get complicated and all the balance of Maggie’s plans may collapse.
Tagline – Chapter Three: A Change of Heart
Runtime: 1 Hour 38 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Simple Romantic Comedy Drama
Story: Maggie’s Plan starts as we meet university professor Maggie (Gerwig) who is tired of not being able to meet the right guy has made the decision to inseminate herself, using her friend Guy’s (Fimmel) sperm. While her couple friends Tony (Hader) and Felicia (Rudolph) give her advice, but her life changes when she meets John (Hawke) a professor at the university, who ends up leaving his wife Georgette (Moore) to marry Maggie.
When Maggie and John do get married, they have their own child and the three parents must now work together to raise the children from his previous marriage, Maggie does start to wonder about her decision about going with John as her own career gets held back at times.
Thoughts on Maggie’s Plan
Characters – Maggie is a career woman that has never had any luck in love, she has decided she wants a baby and is happy to go through the process on her own, she does listen to advice from friends and family, she makes a new friend in John that soon steals her heart giving her a family she never believe she would get. John is an ambitious author in a loveless marriage who starts having the affair with Maggie before leaving his wife, it doesn’t take long before he shows that he ends up falling into the same problems he was facing in his last marriage. Georgette is a successful professor that is married to John, she has always put career first meaning John had to put his professional side on hold, she is against most people coming into her life. Tony and Felicia are the friends who have their own family who helps Maggie make her decision.
Performances – The performances in the film are good, with Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke and Julianne Moore all showing they can handle any sort of serious material put on their plates. The supporting cast are strong too without anybody in the film doing anything overly memorable.
Story – The story follows a professional woman that wants to start a life with a baby, she has a plan she wants to follow which seems simple in her head until she meets John who puts everything in a different direction and as the passage of time rolls on, she believes she might have made a mistake. This does show us how life doesn’t always go the way you plan and no matter how much you plan things, things will go wrong. This story isn’t the most interesting as we see how one woman deals with starting to date a married man before starting her own relationship with him, never truly sure what she wants in life.
Comedy/Romance – The comedy is solid, most of the comedy comes from Bill Hader who can hit dry wit in any film, the romance shows us how one woman sees love and the problems it brings.
Settings – The film doesn’t give us any clear settings which disappoints, though it does show how it is meant to be everyday life.
Scene of the Movie – Drunk Bill Hader.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not the most interesting story.
Final Thoughts – This isn’t the most interesting film, it does have strong performances from a talented cast, it just doesn’t connect with me.
Overall: Strong performances.
Rating