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What Maisie Knew (2012)

Director:
Scott McGehee
David Siegel
COUNTRY
USA
GENRE
Drama
NORWEGIAN TITLE
What Maisie Knew
RUNNING TIME
99 minutes
Producer:
Daniel Crown
Daniela Tapin Lundberg
William Teitler
Charles Weinstock
Screenwriter:
Carroll Cartwright
Nancy Doyne


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
Susanna Julianne Moore ½
Lincoln Alexander Skarsgård
Maisie Onata Aprile
Margo Joanna Vanderham
Beale Steve Coogan

 

Review

Granted that you as a viewer accept the fact that parents can be as selfish and insensitive as rock star Susanna (Julianne Moore) and art dealer Beale (Steve Coogan) are here, What Maisie Knew is a heart-rending and arduous, but ultimately beautiful and warm film that seeks to throw light on the child's end of the bargain in a breakup and subsequent custody-battle. When it works so well, it does so because despite the parents' said selfishness and lack of sensitivity, they come off as real people thanks to solid performances by Coogan and particularly Moore. The much-needed counterweight is provided by the sympathetic characters that Alexander Skarsgård and Joanna Vanderham create. And although the ending is bordering on fairytaleish, it's made believable and, above all, redeeming by all the disappointments that has come before. Scott McGehee and David Siegel's co-direction is aptly performance-driven.

Copyright © 11.12.2016 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang

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