On the plane to Singapore, I watched this modern-day updating of the story by Henry James. What Maisie Knew tells the story of a couple, art dealer Beale (Steve Coogan) and rockstar Susanna (Julianne Moore) whose relationship is breaking down. As they fight with each other, their six year old daughter Maisie (Onata Aprile) is caught between, first as a tool to try and score points from the other, and then shuttled in between the two as part of the custody arrangements. As she is essentially abandoned, becoming increasingly the responsibility of her parents' respective new spouses - bartender Lincoln (Alexander Skarsgaard) and her former nanny Margo (Joanna Vanderham), Maisie comes to understand the difference between what people say and what they do, and the complexity of adult relationships.
I clearly liked this otherwise I wouldn't be writing about a film I watched on a 12 hour flight. Despite its subject matter, WMK is not an overly dramatic movie. Other than a few adult histrionics as dysfunctional relationships breakdown, what we see is mostly an observational film from the viewpoint of a child. This is done in several ways - by having fights between her parents as a muffled background noise unless she's directly present, and by having low camera viewpoints so that we are on the same level as Maisie. Aprile is amazing as Maisie. Watching the film, you never get the sense that she's acting - from her joyous reactions to the people in her life or the quiet moments as she watches and waits to be remembered - I really felt as though I was watching a girl who has learnt to make herself unobtrusive and less demanding of the unreliable adults that flit in and out of her life.
The adults in the film are no less impressive. With Moore and Coogan playing Maisie's self-involved and thoughtless parents, it's hard to tell which one is the 'better' or 'worse'. As the fading rockstar, Moore presents Susanna as equal parts bravado and insecurity. From coach Maisie into saying that her father hit her, to impulsively marrying Lincoln to provide a caretaker for Maisie as she heads on tour for months, then exhibiting jealousy when observing how well the two get along together, we really see someone who likely loves her daughter very much, but for whose lifestyle the presence of a child is simply not compatible and is not willing or able to compromise. Likewise, Coogan presents Maisie's father as constantly on the phone or jetting off somewhere, making gestures that appear to be in her best interest but are actually self-serving, such as secretly marrying Maisie's nanny and arguing that the relationship means he should have custody, but then not having Margo's name on the apartment lease. Of the secondary adults, while Vanderham's Margo is seen to have a genuine affection for Maisie, Skarsgard as Lincoln is a revelation! Playing against his dangerous sexy type, we see Lincoln as an ordinary guy who has no real idea what to do with the role he's been thrust into, but finding himself Maisie's primary caretaker, does what he can for someone with whom he would normally have no contact with. The interaction between Aprile and Skarsgaard seems so natural - I have seen other men dangling children from their arms in the same way!
For people who have read the book, this might be a bit disappointing as the film truncates the years-long story to Maisie's adolescence and cuts out a large subplot, but at the same time, by doing so the film bypasses some Victorian-era morality that is not longer (really) relevant in this age. But what we do get is, what I feel, an unsentimental look at a now-common situation in which the actions that adults might conduct for convenience's sake is not always in the child's best interest.
This movie should have gotten more attention.
8/10
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