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How entertaining? ★★★☆☆
Thought provoking? ★★☆☆☆ 18 August 2013
This article is a review of WHAT MAISIE KNEW.
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“I have two step fathers, but one is almost dead,” a boy in Maisie’s class
The tone lurches. Not artlessly. We begin in the fearless world of the New York wealthy elite. The opening is the last time calm is felt. Julianne Moore’s musician Susanna sings her young daughter Maisie (Onata Aprile) to sleep on an acoustic guitar. Susanna may have been on the rock radar once, but she doesn’t currently seem to be doing much with her days. Quickly bickering between father Beale (Steve Coogan) and Susanna escalate to the inability to cohabit. Nanny Margot (Joanna Vanderham) attempts to shield Maisie to little avail. Beale’s priority is his career. A custody battle commences between the parents. Moore and Coogan chew up the dialogue and spew (passive) aggression. It might appear there is much love for their daughter, but the spite is not out of devotion, egos have been bruised. All the while Maisie silently watches on. There is virtually no scene without her. Aprile’s reactive performance might have been a risk for the project had she not been as talented. Her stillness is a reflection of their guilt.
The tone lurches. Not artlessly. We begin in the fearless world of the New York wealthy elite. The opening is the last time calm is felt. Julianne Moore’s musician Susanna sings her young daughter Maisie (Onata Aprile) to sleep on an acoustic guitar. Susanna may have been on the rock radar once, but she doesn’t currently seem to be doing much with her days. Quickly bickering between father Beale (Steve Coogan) and Susanna escalate to the inability to cohabit. Nanny Margot (Joanna Vanderham) attempts to shield Maisie to little avail. Beale’s priority is his career. A custody battle commences between the parents. Moore and Coogan chew up the dialogue and spew (passive) aggression. It might appear there is much love for their daughter, but the spite is not out of devotion, egos have been bruised. All the while Maisie silently watches on. There is virtually no scene without her. Aprile’s reactive performance might have been a risk for the project had she not been as talented. Her stillness is a reflection of their guilt.
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Rather than being a war of love, the separation brings out what must always have been there: A profound narcissism and self-entitlement. As WHAT MAISIE KNEW develops, the seemingly safe environ, of prosperity and possessions, becomes a slowly darkening fairy tale. And it is a fairy tale. There are dangers, trepidation for the wellbeing of the young protagonist, and hope. That last element may not sit right with some by the finale. The denouement is a possibility if you pay attention, but never a certainty. Personally, one was satisfied by the resolution. We are not in the Dardennes’ consummate, nuanced territory; but of course there is plenty of room for other voices to explore the potential hazards of being a child.
Beale quickly finds a replacement in Margot, and in retaliation Susanna chooses Lincoln (Alexander Skarsgård). Both now have younger lovers, who are neglected, and taken for granted, as career and solipsism take hold. Both Margot and Lincoln grow to deeply love Maisie. Four potential guardians, what’s to worry about? The directors (Scott McGehee and David Siegel) take us on a non-touristy tour of the Big Apple (as they did in UNCERTAINTY starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Lynn Collins) over a summer. The city becomes a sea where, amid the dappled light, Maisie is buffeted from pillar to post. Her situation becomes precarious.
I ended up seeing this on the same day as LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON – a less than eight hour period of moneyed family destruction. Wonder what’s in the air?
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