Maggie's Plan

Name: Maggie's Plan
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Romance
Released: May 20, 2016
Duration: 98 min
Rating: 76
Cast: Bill Hader, Ethan Hawke, Greta Gerwig, Julianne Moore, Maya Rudolph

2016

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Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 62 Ratings

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6.3

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6.3	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 62 Ratings

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Maggie's Plan

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Movie Details & Credits

Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: May 20, 2016 | R

Starring: Bill Hader, Ethan Hawke, Greta Gerwig, Julianne Moore, Maya Rudolph, Travis Fimmel

Summary: Maggie Hardin (Greta Gerwig) is a vibrant and practical thirty-something New Yorker working in education, who without success in finding love, decides now is the time to have a child on her own. But when she meets John Harding (Ethan Hawke), an anthropology professor and struggling novelist, Maggie falls in love for the first time, andMaggie Hardin (Greta Gerwig) is a vibrant and practical thirty-something New Yorker working in education, who without success in finding love, decides now is the time to have a child on her own. But when she meets John Harding (Ethan Hawke), an anthropology professor and struggling novelist, Maggie falls in love for the first time, and adjusts her plans for motherhood. Complicating matters, John is in an unhappy marriage with Georgette Harding (Julianne Moore), an ambitious academic who is driven by her work. With some help from Maggie's best friends, married couple Tony (Bill Hader) and Felicia (Maya Rudolph), Maggie sets in motion a new plan that intertwines their lives and connects them in surprising and humorous ways. Maggie learns that sometimes destiny should be left to its own devices. [Sony Pictures Classics]… Expand

Director: Rebecca Miller

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy, Romance

Rating: R

Runtime: 98 min

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Critic Reviews

The Film Stage Dan Mecca

Jun 2, 2016

Miller’s New York, full of academics who still have the capacity to act like children, isn’t exactly new, but plenty fascinating. Read full review

Richard Roeper

May 29, 2016

It’s a fine brew, equal parts cynical and whimsical, dark and sunny. It’s fairly slight but nearly great. Read full review

Dennis Harvey

Sep 17, 2015

Miller is greatly helped by all her major collaborators here. Read full review

The Telegraph Robbie Collin

Jul 14, 2016

Don’t underestimate the knitwear in Maggie’s Plan. This comedy from Rebecca Miller says more about the human condition through its cardigans than most films this summer have managed in their scripts. Read full review

Peter Rainer

May 20, 2016

Writer-director Rebecca Miller never wrests her movie free of its associations with the films of Woody Allen and Noah Baumbach, and some of it plays like a generic indie film rom-com. Read full review

Ty Burr

Jun 2, 2016

This is the rare occasion when one of these brittle, neurotic social comedies serves as the vehicle for a woman’s sensibility rather than a man’s. In the process, Miller quietly but forcefully reinvents an entire movie genre. Read full review

Nina Corcoran

May 18, 2016

The script, although endearing, is too poorly edited to lift its quirks to the next level, no matter how many stars show up for roll call. Read full review

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User Reviews

preciouskiki

Jun 11, 2016

Wasn't sure how much I was going to like this at first. I thought it might turn out to be one of those overly quirky movies, but I was wrong. It was wonderful. I enjoyed every minute of it. Greta Gerwig could be considered the Diane Keaton of this generation. She was wonderful in "Maggie'sWasn't sure how much I was going to like this at first. I thought it might turn out to be one of those overly quirky movies, but I was wrong. It was wonderful. I enjoyed every minute of it. Greta Gerwig could be considered the Diane Keaton of this generation. She was wonderful in "Maggie's Plan." So was Ethan Hawke and the rest of the supporting cast, including Bill Hader, Julianne Moore, Maya Rudolph, and Travis Fimmel (whom I am not familiar with) as the potential sperm donor. Loved the NYC setting, too. It reminded me of a good Woody Allen-type story, so if you like that sort of thing, you will like this, too.… Expand

2 of 4 users found this helpful22

bobmeier

Jun 18, 2016

I LOVED Maggie's Plan. What I loved most about this wonderful film was the dialog, which comes at you at a relentless and nonstop and WONDERFUL way. Gerwig is so believable and another's reviewers comparison to Woody Allen-era Diane Keaton are spot on. Not that she's a Keaton clone, she'sI LOVED Maggie's Plan. What I loved most about this wonderful film was the dialog, which comes at you at a relentless and nonstop and WONDERFUL way. Gerwig is so believable and another's reviewers comparison to Woody Allen-era Diane Keaton are spot on. Not that she's a Keaton clone, she's comes across so sincere and really wanting to do the right thing, but things just don't work out. The few pieces of music fit in so perfectly (altho I"ve always hated Bruce Springsteen, I actually found my self liking Dancing in the Dark in the one scene with the bar band version.) There are obscure reggae cuts that feel so right and so great in the movie. The scenes involving her children are heartbreakingly adorable. And the kids are so adorable....whatever Maggie's Plan was, the results are these kids who have the most wonderful(seemed to be using that word alot) rapport with Gerwig.. Juliane Moore is great as the ice queen who turns out to be not so icy after all. This was my favorite movie so far this year. OK I'm not the greatest at telling you why, but PLEASE see this movie. This movie deserves a bigger audience(I saw it in an audience of three people) and I wish this would be come a huge suprise hit. It won't, and that will be alot of people's bad luck, because Maggie's Plan is (sorry) WONDERFUL. There's just no other word that does it.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

RAISEDbyWOLVES

Jul 8, 2016

The reason to see this film are the performances of Greta Gerwig,who seems made for this type of role, Bill Hader, and Maya Rudolf, her best friends, and who wouldn't want friends like that, that offer solid shoulders to lean on. Ethan Hawke and Julianne Moore as the couple at the crux ofThe reason to see this film are the performances of Greta Gerwig,who seems made for this type of role, Bill Hader, and Maya Rudolf, her best friends, and who wouldn't want friends like that, that offer solid shoulders to lean on. Ethan Hawke and Julianne Moore as the couple at the crux of Maggie's plan are two totally unlikable characters who readily deserve each other. Hooray for the pickle salesman!… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

amaryllisvn

Jun 24, 2016

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The movie was watchable, especially Greta Gerwig's performance, but as several reviewers mentioned, it's not funny enough, and much of it is entirely predictable. I knew in the first five minutes how it would end, and that predictable ending is really unforgivable. SPOILER: Could a movie end with a single woman happily raising a child by herself, for once? Apparently not. Other turnoffs for me: the two married best friends, who of course are adorable and happy together -- such a cliche. Also, I'm a NYC professor, and let me tell you, no one has apartments like that who isn't born with a silver spoon like Donald Trump, and would never say things like "No one unpacks commodity fetishism like you do." Please. For some reason, movies never get the way professors really talk -- if anything, they bend over backwards to avoid being seen as pretentious, so they're more likely to speak self-deprecatingly or ironically/ jokingly --they would never say something like that seriously. Altogether, the movie seemed as fake and contrived as could be,, except that I did enjoy the way the couple acted when their marriage began to go downhill. "Do you want to hear your horoscope?" "Um, no." Now that has a ring of truth -- but I can't say the same for most of the movie.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

smiyamot

Aug 26, 2016

I've begun to feel like I'm watching a Woody Allen movie every time I see Greta Gerwig. We have the talky characters who have emotional problems and neuroses, we have the awkward situations, yada yada yada. At the end, we have the typical Woody Allen ending, everyone's happy.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Brent_Marchant

May 30, 2016

Aside from a fine supporting performance by Julianne Moore, this alleged screwball romantic comedy is slow-paced, unfunny and not especially amorous. What more is there to say? It's basically a lightweight, eminently forgettable picture, one that I'm amazed ever reached production.

3 of 4 users found this helpful31

Earlsmama

Jun 24, 2016

Boring, unfunny, contrived film that I am amazed made it to the film festivals, distributors, movie screens. The handful of people in the theatre with me were largely unresponsive to this stunted production. Ridiculous plot with insipid characters who were supposed to be funny. JulianneBoring, unfunny, contrived film that I am amazed made it to the film festivals, distributors, movie screens. The handful of people in the theatre with me were largely unresponsive to this stunted production. Ridiculous plot with insipid characters who were supposed to be funny. Julianne Moore's accent was a mystery; Gerwig was the usual Gerwig; poor direction, poor script, I found this movie to be a complete waste of time.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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