Based upon a story by Karen Rinaldi
Written For The Screen and Directed by Rebecca Miller
*1/2 (one and a half stars)
RATED R
Oh dear readers, if you really had any idea as to how closely that I almost wrote the word "meh" for this latest review and left it at that.
Very recently, I began to actually wonder about the status of the romantic comedy. Now, this is not because I had been necessarily missing the genre but with the plethora of sequels, reboots, re-imaginings, comic books movies and toy film franchises having overtaken our theater screens, it is a bit of a surprise to see how other tried and true genres have fallen by the wayside. I have been extremely critical of the romantic comedy genre over the duration of Savage Cinema as it became a genre where people and environments approximating our real world behaved and operated in ways not even one single person would ever behave and all in completely contrived situations and entirely devoid of any notions resembling the romantic.
Granted, filmmakers along the likes of Judd Apatow, Lisa Cholodenko and especially Nicole Holofcener, with films like "Knocked Up" (2007), "The Kids Are All Right" (2010) and the truly special "Enough Said" (2013) respectively, are all examples of how the emotional, sexual and romantic honesty has returned to the genre, therefore delivering much needed new life into romantic comedies, depicting life how it is lived and most importantly felt. That said, the frequency of romantic comedies, even those weaker ones, usually those Sandra Bullock, Hugh Grant, and/or Kate Hudson driven escapades, with all manner of ridiculous wacky plot lines have faded considerably but still, it is a strange sight to not see those kinds of movies being released often.
And now, we arrive with Writer/Director Rebecca Miller's "Maggie's Plan," a new, independent romantic comedy that certainly attracted me from the trailers I saw through its cast and a certain quality that suggested that the film would be of a witty, literate quality. But there was one troubling element and a major one at that...Ms. Greta Gerwig.
For whatever reasons, I have not been able to drink the kool aid regarding Greta Gerwig, an actress that I have never found to be charming or beguiling. Frankly, I have found her to be maddeningly insufferable, plastic and filled with the very self-congratulatory quirkiness that smack horribly of the worst hipster qualities that I abhor.
Don't get me wrong, this is nothing personal as I do not know her and I do not wish for my feelings to be taken as such. This is solely due to how she has presented herself on screen, most notably within the so-so "Greenberg," (2010), the odious "Frances Ha" (2013) and the even worse "Mistress America" (2015), all three films she has made with Noah Baumbach,
Just the sight of Gerwig now makes me want to disregard the film as a whole...almost, because, this time, with "Maggie's Plan" not being directed by Baumbach, I wondered if perhaps I should give Gerwig just one more chance. Maybe under another director's vision, she would be able to present a different side of her creative personality, one that would hopefully carry the very appeal that has eluded me for all of this time. Unfortunately, "Maggie's Plan" did nothing to alleviate my distaste. Not through any of that aforementioned self-congratulatory quirkiness. No. Just a template that is wholly bland, dry and lifeless.
"Maggie's Plan" stars Greta Gerwig as the titular Maggie,a young, independent yet romantically unlucky New Yorker who decides to become a single Mother and inseminate herself with the sperm of Guy (Travis Fimmel), a former college acquaintance and now, a pickle entrepreneur soon to strike a deal with Whole Foods.
Ever the neurotic and control obsessed, Maggie's life plan takes a surprising turn when she meets John (Ethan Hawke), an author and self-described "ficto-critical anthropologist" stuck in a turbulent marriage to Georgette (Julianne Moore), a time consumed Columbia University professor. Maggie and John strike up a friendship. She begins to read his manuscript. He falls in love with Maggie and the two begin an affair which concludes with the dissolution of John and Georgette's marriage and a new marital union between John and Maggie further culminated with the birth of their daughter.
A few years later, Maggie finds her life with John stuck in a rut and wondering if she has indeed fallen out of love with him. Thus, she hatches a plot to reunite John...and Georgette!!
With the setting, the story and the actors, it would seem that Rebecca Miller's "Maggie's Plan" is setting itself up to function as a sort of classic Woody Allen feature with a collective of highly educated yet emotionally stunted, overactive or immature New Yorkers, all bantering with quick quips and smart one-liners all on their way to finding some semblance of true love. Sadly, Miller just does not possess Allen's peerless gift with characters, dialogue, and even psychology to make her material fly.
To that end, "Maggie 's Plan" also possesses the classic Allen theme of free will vs. fate or the conceit having a figure attempting to exhibit some level of control over an uncontrollable and unforgiving universe. This is precisely Maggie's plan, or series of plans as she houses a vision of the person she wishes to be fueled by her passionate desires but over and again, finds her best laid plans thwarted by the a variety of circumstances, she surprisingly never saw coming but the audience can see a mile away.
Certainly, this element of the film lends itself to functioning as slapstick, which at its best, could provide wild laughter combined with urgent emotions to fuel its beating heart. But, Miller has serious problems with pacing throughout "Maggie's Plan," as scenes just shuffle and drag along, never really heading anywhere, definitely not building upwards with any sense of momentum and all with a tinge of that ironic distance which does not serve a film of this nature any good whatsoever. There is always a flight of fantasy with the romantic comedy genre that is designed to attempt to give our hearts a lift. Yet, "Maggie's Plan" often feels like the hipster version of a romantic comedy, too concerned with its own image of cool and unwilling to just let go of its own trappings.
As for Greta Gerwig, well, I have to say that she annoyed me the least during this film but I am not won over by any means. In fact, I have to give her a little credit for being perhaps the mos grounded that I have seen her yet. Furthermore, she has one scene early in the film as Maggie describes her upbringing to John during their courtship that is quite lovely in its honesty and tenderness and suggested just what a film "Maggie's Plan" ultimately could have become if it just didn't wallow in its own torpid inertia.
Additionally, and especially in 2016, it was indeed a bit disheartening to have yet another film set in urban New York city that is so insufferably lily white as if no ethnicities beyond Caucasians exist--i.e. the "Friends" dimension, so to speak.
But wait..in a supporting role, there is indeed Maya Rudolph whose character is married to Bill Hader and are parents to two little ones. Now, I do have to say that often during romantic comedies, I tend to find myself wondering and becoming more interested in the leading characters' best friends and sidekicks, often finding them more of an interest and even attractiveness. That quality certainly occurred during "Maggie's Plan," as I grew so tired of viewing these three blandly self-absorbed leading characters stuck in a tired threesome where there was this much more interesting dynamic just to the left of them, an interracial married couple with children in New York City. Following Rudolph, Hader and their kids would have been an infinitely more interesting plan to undertake, in my opinion.
Well, at least "Maggie's Plan" did seem to function in a real world with tangible characters caught in a tangible romantic quandary. I liked Ethan Hawke as his performance felt to be the most emotionally honest--although it, and the film, only served to remind me of the greatness of his collaborations with Richard Linklater on all three of their "Before..." films (1995/2004/2013). Julianne Moore also seemed to be having fun trying on a harsh Danish accent...cute. The film had it's heart in the right place, its intentions were fine and it definitely wasn't stupid.
But the sometimes, and like Maggie discovers over and again, the best laid plans...well, you know.
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