Summary
6 tech score
“Puzzle” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“Puzzle” is a movie you will have to search out if you are interested in seeing it. It is not playing on multi-screens at your local cinema but rather will be found in art houses or smaller venues. That is a shame because in many ways it is worth watching and studying. With a relatively unknown cast (Kelly Macdonald, David Denman and Irfan Kahn) the movie tells the story of Agnes (Macdonald), a woman, wife and mother who goes through the routines of life with very little changes. It is only by luck that new opportunities open up for her.
The new opportunity arrives after her birthday party. She receives a jigsaw puzzle as a gift and finds she has a knack for fitting pieces together in record time. She doesn’t know of a store in her town outside New York City that carries puzzles, so she goes into the city to find one. She locates one and picks out two more puzzles to explore. She also sees a note on the counter saying a man is looking for a puzzle partner.
She goes home and finds she works these puzzles quickly too. This boosts her confidence and gives her the incentive to call the number of the “seeking puzzle partner.” His name is Robert (Kahn) and they agree to meet in New York. She makes the trip and after talking with Robert they decide they will meet twice a week to practice for an upcoming competition. Agnes returns home and cooly lies to her husband Louie (Denman) by saying she has to go to New York twice a week to look after her aunt who has broken her foot. Now the seeds of deception have been planted.
The impact of how much the story of “Puzzle” will affect you depends on with which character you most relate. The way the story is written most will ally themselves with Agnes. Agnes realizes she wants more out of life than the daily rut she has found herself in for the first half of her life. She was a good daughter who transformed into a good wife and mother. She has made herself accept the role that life has given her, but down deep there is a longing for something else.
Louie is a man who is living the same life his father lived and is content with it. He loves his wife and his sons, his job as a mechanic, and his Catholic faith. Louie doesn’t want anything to change. He wants to continue in his routine because it makes him happy and he is good at it. He is certainly stunned by the changes he sees evolving from Agnes.
You will either like or dislike the resolution of the plot. Some will leave the theater satisfied with the conclusion while others will disagree completely. It depends upon where your emotions have landed – are you on team Agnes or team Louie?
One thing all can agree upon is that the acting by Macdonald and Denman is excellent. Macdonald lets us see the small transformations that occur in Agnes step by step. You can visually see her demeanor alter as she embraces the new experiences offered to her. Denman is heartbreaking as Louie, a man who sees the substance of his life slipping away. His is a very quiet performance but it is a very effective one. Khan’s role of Robert surprisingly has very little impact on the story. He is the possible catalyst for change but still does not affect the audiences’ emotions.
The film is rated R for profanity and adult situations.
“Puzzle” is a bit slow at the start but eventually leads to a situation that claims your attention and emotional response. It is a tale too quiet in its telling to appeal to a broad audience but for true movie lovers it is a chance to meet characters who intrigue you enough to study them long after the movie has ended.
I scored “Puzzle” a solved 6 out of 10.
Jackie K Cooper
www.jackiekcooper.com
