merelyaninnuendo Maggie's PlanIt has few tricks and turns under its sleeve that just keeps hitting on the screen frame by frame and is balanced so perfectly that it creates a perfect arc for the characters and tickles you along with it too which just defines the excellence in writing department. Rebecca Miller; the co-writer and director, has got everything in the right place that factors in more than anticipated along with its brilliant execution skills. Greta Gerwig is convincingly good in her role as a confused and failed socialist and is supported thoroughly by Ethan Hawke, Julianne Moore and Bill Hader. Maggie's Plan has an eerie combination of a twisted love story and dysfunctional family drama out of which if anything that audience brings home with them, is its pragmatic yet hilarious characters.

leonblackwood Review: Although I knew this was going to be a chick flick, I was expecting it be witty, especially after seeing Bill Hader and Maya Rudolph in the cast but I did get a bit bored with the plot, because it seemed to be going round in circles. The movie is mainly about Maggie (Greta Gerwig), who has a terrible track record of relationships, and really wants to have a baby. After failing to go down the surrogate route, she finally falls for John Harding (Ethan Hawke), who is married to Georgette (Julianne Moore), with 3 kids. When John eventually leaves Georgette for Maggie, they have a little girl together but while he is struggling with his novel, Maggie starts to sense cracks in there relationship. She tries her best to make there relationship work but she becomes a glorified babysitter for all of the kids, which puts a strain on her career. She also can tell that John is unhappy with there marriage, so she puts together a plan to make John fall back in love with Georgette, as she feels guilty for taking him from his ex-wife. Strange but true! Julianne Moore and Ethan Hawke put in there usually top performance and Greta Gerwig was perfect for the leading role but there wasn't enough material to make the movie interesting. There was a few touching moments, like when Maggie was having a bath with her young girl but I still struggled to stay awake through the whole movie. Anyway, although the outcome was pretty predictable, it's still an average watch with some decent performances. Average!Round-Up: This movie was directed by Rebecca Miller, 54, who also brought you Angela in 1995, Personal Velocity: Three Portraits, The Ballad of Jack and Rose, and the Private Lives of Pippa Lee starring Robin Wright and Winona Ryder. She did put together quite a decent cast for this project, so I can honestly can say that the fault wasn't with the performances. I mainly had a problem with the script, which lacked originality and decent humour. I have seen worse in this genre but I still got bored after a while.Budget: N/A Worldwide Gross: $4.9millionI recommend this movie to people who are into their comedy/romance/dramas, starring Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, Julianne Moore, Bill Hader, Maya Rudolph and Wallace Shawn. 3/10

lavatch 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.

zif ofoz Greta Gerwig as "Maggie" (an independent woman) bakes up a plan to become a single mother and in the process 'the plan' works but then backfires and puts her into a situation 'the plan' did not include - marriage.Gerwig gives a charming performance as Maggie steering a course through a relationship with a overly analytical writer once divorced husband, raising her three year old child, working her job as an instructor in a local college, and realizing her husband is still in love with his first wife! Maggie is in a pickle so she devises another plan!The setting is the New York City intellectual society living in row houses and meeting in cafe's to socialize. The cast includes Bill Hader, Ethan Hawke, Maya Rudolph, Julianne Moore, Wallace Shawn. This is a simple 'slice of life' type story about modern people looking for and finding happiness and direction in their life. It's probably a film more appreciated by a viewer that likes a romantic flavor in a story that looks into the feelings and emotion in the human spirit.This is a cheerful light story that includes just a touch of sorrow mixed into a picture of mostly happy people getting on with life. And don't forget the pickles!