Far too often, comedy-dramas orbit around a story of two (or more) people falling madly in love, revelling the Honeymoon period all the while tackling those emotional teething problems as they arise. But what about the period thereafter? That’s something Rebecca Miller (The Ballad Of Jack And Rose, The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee) will look to tackle in Maggie’s Plan, which places Greta Gerwig in the role of the woman with a devious scheme.
Delicate and sweet despite centering on a relationship gone awry, it’s really the creative pool of talent that Miller has assembled that lends Maggie’s Plan its innate charm. Starring as Maggie’s significant other is Ethan Hawke, a wide-eyed professor who dreams big of becoming an author, but as the story evolves it seems Hawke’s John Harding may not be marriage material after all, leading Gerwig’s protagonist to concoct a scheme to reunite him with his ex-wife, Julianne Moore.
Hardly your typical set-up for a romantic comedy, though the first trailer for Maggie’s Plan has piqued our curiosity. Also starring Clive Owen, Bill Hader, and Maya Rudolph, here’s the official synopsis pulled from Miller’s latest directorial effort:
In Rebecca Miller’s witty modern romantic comedy MAGGIE’S PLAN, Greta Gerwig portrays Maggie Hardin, 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 eccentric and hilarious 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. MAGGIE’S PLAN is a sweet, sophisticated and funny exploration of the unexpected complexities of modern romance, mixing heart and humor in a story of the delightful variability of relationships over the course of time.
Maggie’s Plan is penciled in for a theatrical release on May 20.
