Puzzle
Directed by: Marc Turtletaub
Written by: Polly Mann and Oren Moverman - Based on the Argentinian film "Rompecabezas" by Natalia Smirnoff
Starring: Kelly Macdonald, Irrfan Khan, David Denman, Bubba Weiler, Austin Abrams, Liv Hewson, Audrie Neenan
Drama - 103 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 31 July 2018
Written by: Polly Mann and Oren Moverman - Based on the Argentinian film "Rompecabezas" by Natalia Smirnoff
Starring: Kelly Macdonald, Irrfan Khan, David Denman, Bubba Weiler, Austin Abrams, Liv Hewson, Audrie Neenan
Drama - 103 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 31 July 2018
Marc Turtletaub knows two things: 1) a well written script is gold and 2) everybody loves Kelly Macdonald. Turtletaub is a producer by trade; the Academy Award nomination on his resume is for Little Miss Sunshine for Best Picture - another film with a golden script. The script for Puzzle is so well written, Turtletaub stepped out from behind the desk to behind the camera to direct it. I have no idea how closely it resembles the Argentinian film it is adapted from, I’ve never heard of it before, but the script by Polly Mann and Oren Moverman introduces us to a character we not only admire, but would like to be around in the real world.
The movie aware populace knows there are a lack of scripts written for women over 40. It is an overlooked demographic used to teaching Hollywood the same lesson over and over again. If you create a quality film for the middle-aged, an appreciative audience will turn out and reward you with box office receipts. Book Club already oversold this year. It doesn’t always have to be the quirky elderly like a Best Exotic Marigold Hotel comedy; Hidden Figures cleaned up at the theaters - another underserved demographic to be sure. What separates Puzzle from its peers, however, is the 40-something year-old protagonist finds herself in a coming of age story.
The movie aware populace knows there are a lack of scripts written for women over 40. It is an overlooked demographic used to teaching Hollywood the same lesson over and over again. If you create a quality film for the middle-aged, an appreciative audience will turn out and reward you with box office receipts. Book Club already oversold this year. It doesn’t always have to be the quirky elderly like a Best Exotic Marigold Hotel comedy; Hidden Figures cleaned up at the theaters - another underserved demographic to be sure. What separates Puzzle from its peers, however, is the 40-something year-old protagonist finds herself in a coming of age story.
Agnes (Macdonald, Anna Karenina), grew up and settled in the patriarchy. She doted on her father, now she takes care of her husband and two grown sons. Agnes dedicates her life to men, yet never cares for herself. Puzzle’s opening scenes tricked me not only in guessing the decade wrong, but also whose birthday Agnes spends all day preparing for while the men are away at work. Turtletaub and Macdonald mold Agnes into a fascinating, sympathetic character. It’s surprising how strong Agnes holds our attention even though she spends her days in solitude with only stale church women meetings and grocery store trips to punctuate the silence. But Agnes is about to find a passion.
Most of us will learn along with Agnes there is a competitive arena of jigsaw puzzling, complete with international travel and prizes. Absentmindedly tinkering with a complex 1,000 piece puzzle one day, Agnes does not realize the special category of puzzler she belongs in because of how fast she can do it nor why the act of putting together a puzzle makes her feel so alive inside. Stealthily responding to an advertisement for a puzzle partner, Agnes learns from jaded Manhattonite, Robert (Irrfan Khan, Jurassic World), why she responds to puzzles so readily. However, puzzles are not the ends for Agnes, they are a doorway to a wider world.
For the first time, Agnes finds her true voice. She never had the opportunity to explore a passion and now this suburban Connecticut mom and homemaker shuttles guiltily to New York City to chase new horizons. Puzzles are merely a vehicle to get herself to an unknown personal destination. Husband Louie (David Denman, Logan Lucky) doesn’t take too kindly to Agnes’s new and unwelcome discovery - it interrupts dinner time. Louie is not an overtly bad guy. He is not physically abusive, he loves his wife, but he takes advantage of her docile nature like everybody else does. Louie covets his traditional man and woman routine and cannot understand how Agnes could yearn for anything more than what she already has.
Kelly Macdonald is the perfect Agnes. Her face conveys so much emotion, a useful aid since we can hear her native Scottish accent gasping for air beneath highly suspect faux American vowel sounds. Macdonald is in every scene and she’s a star. Macdonald makes Turtletaub's message to live an authentic life soar. Find out who you are and what your purpose will be. Everyone is so rushed - Louie and the boys at the auto shop, Robert obsessing over natural disasters on cable news - Agnes slows it all down in such a deliberate manner we feel nothing but comfort. She discovers a talent she didn’t know she had and in a quiet way, changes her life which changes the lives of those around her. Agnes uses her voice for the first time and at the same time makes Puzzle charming, melancholy, and hopeful all at the same time.
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