Maggie's Plan
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''Maggie's Plan'' is a 2015 American romantic
comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
film directed and written by
Rebecca Miller Rebecca Augusta Miller, Lady Day-Lewis (born September 15, 1962) is an American filmmaker and novelist. She is known for her films '' Angela'', '' Personal Velocity: Three Portraits'', ''The Ballad of Jack and Rose'', ''The Private Lives of Pipp ...
, based on the original story by Karen Rinaldi (later published as the 2017 novel ''The End of Men''). The film stars
Greta Gerwig Greta Celeste Gerwig (; born August 4, 1983) is an American actress, screenwriter, and director. She first garnered attention after working on and appearing in several mumblecore films. Between 2006 and 2009, she appeared in a number of films b ...
,
Ethan Hawke Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor and film director. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award. Hawke has directed three feature films, three off-Broadway plays, and a doc ...
,
Bill Hader William Thomas Hader Jr.''Finding Your Roots'', January 26, 2016, PBS. (born June 7, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is the creator, producer, writer, director, and star of the HBO dark comedy series ''Barry'' (2018 ...
,
Maya Rudolph Maya Rudolph (born July 27, 1972) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. In 2000, she became a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''), and later played supporting roles in the films '' 50 First Dates'' ...
,
Travis Fimmel Travis Fimmel (born 15 July 1979) is an Australian actor and former model. He is known for his role as Ragnar Lothbrok in the History Channel television series ''Vikings'' (2013–2017),Prudom, LaurVikings On History: Travis Fimmel Previews The ...
,
Wallace Shawn Wallace Michael Shawn (born November 12, 1943) is an American actor, playwright, and essayist. His film roles include Wally Shawn (a fictionalized version of himself) in '' My Dinner with Andre'' (1981), Vizzini in ''The Princess Bride'' (1987), ...
, Monte Greene, Ida Rohatyn, and
Julianne Moore Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is particularly known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent films, a ...
. The film had its world premiere at the
2015 Toronto International Film Festival The 40th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 10 to 20 September 2015. On 28 July 2015 the first wave of films to be screened at the Festival was announced. Jean-Marc Vallée's ''Demolition'' starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naom ...
on September 12, 2015.
Sony Pictures Classics Sony Pictures Classics Inc. is an American film production and distribution company that is a division of Sony Pictures. It was founded in 1992 by former Orion Classics heads Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloom. It distributes, produc ...
released the film on May 20, 2016.


Synopsis

Maggie Hardin, the director of business development and outreach for the art and design students at the
New School The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...
, decides she wants to have a child, and enlists a former college acquaintance, Guy Childers, a math major and pickle entrepreneur, to donate his sperm. At the university, she gets to know John Harding, a "ficto-critical anthropologist", who is married to a tenured professor at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. Repeatedly bumping into each other on campus, John confides in Maggie that he is writing a novel. Maggie begins reading it, and they start meeting on a regular basis to talk about the novel. Maggie attempts to inseminate herself, but is interrupted by the doorbell. It is John, who confesses that he is in love with her and wants to be the father of her child. Three years later, Maggie and John are married, and they have a daughter, Lily. Maggie repeatedly finds herself having to put her professional goals on the back burner to take care of Lily and her two step-children, and to support John's writing. Taking Lily for a walk, she runs into Guy, who initially thinks Lily is his daughter, but Maggie tells him that Lily is John's child. Maggie goes to see Georgette, John's ex-wife, at a book signing. She approaches Georgette and tells her that she knows Georgette is still in love with John, and that she wants to help them get back together. Georgette decides to go along with the plan, and asks for Maggie's help getting John to attend a conference which she will also be attending. At the conference, Georgette and John make up and sleep together. Returning home, John confesses everything to Maggie, who tells him he belongs with Georgette. John accidentally learns that Maggie had planned to re-unite him with Georgette. He leaves Maggie and Lily, and disappears for a while. Maggie goes to speak to Georgette, in order to try to find out any news about John, and ends up taking Georgette and the children to her home, where Georgette spends the day reading John's novel. Meeting with him later, she tells him her opinion about the novel. Realizing that she knows him better than he knows himself, John forgives Georgette for her part in the scheme, and they re-unite. Sometime later, the blended family goes out ice-skating. Maggie is surprised when Lily begins to recite numbers, as neither she nor John are mathematically inclined. She sees Guy walking towards the ice rink.


Cast

*
Greta Gerwig Greta Celeste Gerwig (; born August 4, 1983) is an American actress, screenwriter, and director. She first garnered attention after working on and appearing in several mumblecore films. Between 2006 and 2009, she appeared in a number of films b ...
as Maggie Hardin *
Ethan Hawke Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor and film director. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award. Hawke has directed three feature films, three off-Broadway plays, and a doc ...
as John Harding *
Julianne Moore Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is particularly known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent films, a ...
as Georgette Nørgaard *
Bill Hader William Thomas Hader Jr.''Finding Your Roots'', January 26, 2016, PBS. (born June 7, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is the creator, producer, writer, director, and star of the HBO dark comedy series ''Barry'' (2018 ...
as Tony *
Maya Rudolph Maya Rudolph (born July 27, 1972) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. In 2000, she became a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''), and later played supporting roles in the films '' 50 First Dates'' ...
as Felicia *
Travis Fimmel Travis Fimmel (born 15 July 1979) is an Australian actor and former model. He is known for his role as Ragnar Lothbrok in the History Channel television series ''Vikings'' (2013–2017),Prudom, LaurVikings On History: Travis Fimmel Previews The ...
as Guy Childers *
Wallace Shawn Wallace Michael Shawn (born November 12, 1943) is an American actor, playwright, and essayist. His film roles include Wally Shawn (a fictionalized version of himself) in '' My Dinner with Andre'' (1981), Vizzini in ''The Princess Bride'' (1987), ...
as Kliegler * Ida Rohatyn as Lily Harding * Alex Morf as Al Bentwaithe * Jackson Frazer as Paul Harding * Mina Sundwall as Justine Harding * Fredi Walker-Browne as Beverly * Monte Greene as Max


Production

On January 9, 2014, it was announced that director
Rebecca Miller Rebecca Augusta Miller, Lady Day-Lewis (born September 15, 1962) is an American filmmaker and novelist. She is known for her films '' Angela'', '' Personal Velocity: Three Portraits'', ''The Ballad of Jack and Rose'', ''The Private Lives of Pipp ...
and
Greta Gerwig Greta Celeste Gerwig (; born August 4, 1983) is an American actress, screenwriter, and director. She first garnered attention after working on and appearing in several mumblecore films. Between 2006 and 2009, she appeared in a number of films b ...
would re-team on rom-com ''Maggie's Plan'' to direct and star, respectively, scripted by Miller and based on the story by Karen Rinaldi.
Rachael Horovitz Rachael Horovitz (born 1962) is an American film producer. She is known for producing the film '' Moneyball'', and the TV series ''Patrick Melrose''. Early life Horovitz is the daughter of playwright Israel Horovitz and the late painter Doris (n ...
was set to produce through Specialty Films along with Miller and Damon Cardasis through their Round Films.
Julianne Moore Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is particularly known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent films, a ...
was added to the cast of the film on January 15, 2014.
Clive Owen Clive Owen (born 3 October 1964) is an English actor. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for playing the lead role in the ITV series '' Chancer'' from 1990 to 1991. He received critical acclaim for his work in the film '' Close ...
had joined on May 1, 2014, although he did not appear in the finished film, while on February 2, 2015,
Travis Fimmel Travis Fimmel (born 15 July 1979) is an Australian actor and former model. He is known for his role as Ragnar Lothbrok in the History Channel television series ''Vikings'' (2013–2017),Prudom, LaurVikings On History: Travis Fimmel Previews The ...
joined the film's cast. On February 3, 2015, ''Variety'' reported that
Ethan Hawke Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor and film director. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award. Hawke has directed three feature films, three off-Broadway plays, and a doc ...
,
Bill Hader William Thomas Hader Jr.''Finding Your Roots'', January 26, 2016, PBS. (born June 7, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is the creator, producer, writer, director, and star of the HBO dark comedy series ''Barry'' (2018 ...
, and
Maya Rudolph Maya Rudolph (born July 27, 1972) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. In 2000, she became a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''), and later played supporting roles in the films '' 50 First Dates'' ...
had joined the film.


Filming

Filming began on February 23, 2015, in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.


Release

The film had its world premiere at the
2015 Toronto International Film Festival The 40th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 10 to 20 September 2015. On 28 July 2015 the first wave of films to be screened at the Festival was announced. Jean-Marc Vallée's ''Demolition'' starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naom ...
during its 40th anniversary on September 12, 2015. Shortly after
Sony Pictures Classics Sony Pictures Classics Inc. is an American film production and distribution company that is a division of Sony Pictures. It was founded in 1992 by former Orion Classics heads Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloom. It distributes, produc ...
acquired distribution rights to the film. The film had its U.S. premiere at the
New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, it is ...
on October 4, 2015. It also went on to screen at the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
on January 22, 2016, and the
66th Berlin International Film Festival The 66th Berlin International Film Festival was held from 11 to 21 February 2016, with American actress Meryl Streep as the President of the Jury. The Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement was presented to German cinematographer Michael ...
on February 15, 2016. After a New York invitation-only premiere on May 5, 2016, the film was released in the United States on May 20, 2016.


Critical response

''Maggie's Plan'' received positive reviews from film critics. It holds an 86% "Fresh" rating on review aggregator website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, based on 185 reviews, with an average rating of 7.10/10. The site's consensus reads: "With a typically absorbing performance from Greta Gerwig leading the way, ''Maggie's Plan'' gives rom-com sensibilities a smart, subversive twist." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film holds a rating of 76 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". ''Variety'''s Dennis Harvey described it as "nicely crafted on all levels", with "Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, and Julianne Moore making a pleasing triangle in Rebecca Miller's offbeat romantic comedy". Richard Lawson from ''Vanity Fair'' praised the film as "A smart, goofy delight!", highlighting Julianne Moore's "comedy chops" and praising the rest of the cast as being in "near-perfect harmony, creating a lively, inviting hum". Other critics also pointed out Julianne Moore's performance as "scene-stealing", including Nigel M. Smith from ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'': "Maggie's Plan serves as a strong reminder for what a comedic force Moore can be when served by the right material." He also singled out Gerwig for "effortlessly leading most of the picture".


References


External links

* * {{Rebecca Miller 2015 films 2015 independent films Films directed by Rebecca Miller Films shot in New York City Films set in New York City American romantic comedy films 2015 romantic comedy films Sony Pictures Classics films 2010s American films